According to ABC, Australia and Guangzhou, on the afternoon of February 25, there was another safety accident at the famous online celebrity spot "8-word Lake" in the New State Royal National Park, suddenly a huge wave stormed the rock wall, killing the lives of two foreign student tourists standing by the lake.
From the scene photo could see that the sudden wave was 10 meters high, dragging two young men into the sea and scaring other tourists to run for their lives. After receiving the alarm, the Royal National Park rescue team sent helicopters, new state police also launched a search boat to search the nearby waters, but only one of the lucky to seize the reef man. After 24 hours of search and rescue, the hope of another man`s survival has been very slim.
Eight-character lake
"it`s obviously sad, but even more frustrating," said Professor Rob Brander, a water safety advocate, "this kind of drowning is going on and it`s totally avoidable." He called on the site to be closed permanently to prevent more people from dying: "not only is it an eight-character pool, people are scrambling to take pictures on a dangerous sea cliff bridge and then fall off a cliff."
The (NPWS) website of the New State National Park and Wildlife Service has an early warning system for forecasting waves in the area and warning visitors when it is too dangerous. This week`s events took place at the peak of the high tide, with the area`s risk forecast as "extremely dangerous". As a result, indifferent tourists are not paying attention to the warning. Prof Brander said many visitors may be 100 percent ignorant.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steven Pearce reiterated important measures before approaching potentially dangerous areas: "We have been urging people to stop, observe and think before they get to the rocks. "in many cases, not only are beaches dangerous, reefs also constitute significant and unpredictable threat."
Since 2014, lifeguards have been rescued 343 times off the coast of Royal National Park, with the deaths occurring on social media "online celebrity attractions," including eight-word pools, the Wattamolla picnic area and headland Solander, according to data. "it`s all driven by social media," said Professor Brander, who is not blaming Instagram, but it does have a significant impact on the work of managers, and people are flocking to dangerous areas they shouldn`t have gone to.
