Police confirm men who drowned at Phillip Island from Cranbourne East
Two men have drowned and an 11-year-old boy remains in hospital after getting into trouble in water off the coast of Phillip Island in a Christmas Eve tragedy.
Police confirmed on Tuesday morning that all three males are part of the same Cranbourne East family.
Emergency services were called to the Colonnades, a 900m long south-west facing stretch of beach, following reports of three males in distress while swimming in waters off The Boulevard about 5.30pm on Monday.
One man aged in his 40s was pulled from the water, however he could not be revived and was declared dead at the scene.
A second man, aged 20, was also pulled from the water and died at the scene.
The young boy was able to swim to shore and was taken to Monash Children’s Hospital where he remains on Tuesday in a stable condition with minor injuries.
The Colonnades is the western extension of the notorious Woolamai Surf Beach where two men drowned within days of each other last summer.
Woolamai Beach surf lifesaving club had warned swimmers on its Facebook page early on Monday to avoid the beach all together due to perilous conditions.
According to BeachSafe, The Colonnades is an "exposed high energy beach" which is unsuitable for safe swimming due to strong rips in the wide surf zone and against the reefs.
Indian national Hemant Govekar, 28, drowned after going for a swim on Christmas Day at nearby Cape Woolamai Beach in Philip Island last year.
He had only just graduated from the University of Queensland when he died.
Mitcham man Paul Baker, 46, drowned on New Year's Day at the same beach despite swimming between flags, prompting authorities to urge people to learn how to identify rips.
A year earlier in January 2016, a man and a woman aged in their 20s also drowned after being swept into the sea by a rip at Cape Woolamai outside lifesaving patrol hours.
Police will now prepare a report for the Coroner over the Christmas Eve deaths.