British father is swept away to his death with wife and three children rescued after they were caught in rip current while swimming on paradise island of Lombok
A British father died after being swept away by a rip current while swimming with his wife and three children off Kerandangan Two Beach in Senggigi, on the Indonesian island of Lombok. The incident occurred around 3.30pm local time last Wednesday; while his wife and children were rescued, he was found unconscious after roughly 18 minutes underwater and later pronounced dead in hospital. The tragedy highlights the ongoing dangers posed by strong currents around Lombok's popular tourist beaches.
Local villagers from Krandangan and Mangsit used a jet-ski and basic diving equipment to search for the man before he was recovered and taken to Bhayangkara Hospital in Mataram, where he was declared dead. The family had been staying at the Rinjani Eco Resort in Tanjung, North Lombok. Police are coordinating with local agencies over arrangements for his remains. This follows a similar case in March, when a 45-year-old British tourist died diving alone off nearby Gili Air after being caught in strong currents; the UK Foreign Office said it is providing consular assistance to the man's family.
- British father drowns in rip current off Lombok, Indonesia
- Wife and three children rescued; he was found after 18 minutes
- Similar British diving death occurred near Lombok in March
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Off the coast of Lombok, an island in Indonesia popular with holidaymakers, a British man died after being caught in a rip current while swimming with his family. Rip currents are powerful channels of water that pull swimmers away from shore, and they are a recognised hazard at several of the island's beaches, including the one where this incident took place near Senggigi.
The man was swimming with his wife and three children when the current swept him away; his family were rescued, but he was later found unconscious and could not be revived. Local villagers played a part in the search and recovery effort, reflecting how such incidents in this area often rely on community responders alongside official emergency services.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the risks facing tourists in the waters around Lombok and the nearby Gili Islands, a region that draws large numbers of British and other foreign visitors each year. It follows an earlier fatal incident involving a British tourist in the same area, prompting fresh scrutiny of water safety for holidaymakers in the region.