SYDNEY: Two lifeboat crew racing to a stricken yacht off eastern Australia died when their vessel capsized in heavy seas, police said on Tuesday.

The body of a third man, who is yet to be identified, was found on the shore nearby.

A crew of six sped to the yacht in distress on Monday evening near a breakwater off Ballina, a town about eight hours’ drive north of Sydney. Their lifeboat capsized in “extremely treacherous” ocean conditions with a 2.5 metre (eight-foot) swell, New South Wales police superintendent Joe McNulty told journalists.

“Some of the Marine Rescue crew were trapped in the hull. Some were ejected from the vessel and, unfortunately, two lives have been lost,” he said. The volunteer lifeboat crew members who died were aged 62 and 78. The stricken yacht hit the breakwater and broke up, police said.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2026