A British father has died after being swept out to sea by a rip current while swimming with his wife and three children on the Indonesian island of Lombok. The family was at Kerandangan Two Beach in Senggigi, West Lombok, around 3:30 p.m. local time last Wednesday when the incident occurred.
While the man's wife and three children were rescued, he was submerged for approximately 18 minutes before being found. Local villagers from the nearby Krandangan and Mangsit communities assisted in the search efforts, using a jet-ski and basic diving equipment to navigate the large waves. The man was recovered unconscious and transported to Bhayangkara Hospital in Mataram, where he was pronounced dead.
The family had been staying at the Rinjani Eco Resort in Tanjung, North Lombok. Following the man's death, police secured the area and began coordinating with relevant agencies for the repatriation of his remains.
This incident follows a similar tragedy earlier this year, when a 45-year-old British man died during a high-risk dive off another remote Indonesian island in the Lombok region. In March, that man swam through dangerous currents near Gili Air, bypassing the use of a boat to navigate the waters, and was reportedly pulled out to sea. His body was discovered by search-and-rescue crews approximately an hour after he failed to surface. Paramedics performed CPR on the shore, but he was declared deceased. The UK's Foreign Office confirmed it is providing consular assistance to the family of the deceased and is in contact with local authorities.