Following the drowning of an 11-year old boy at an east coast beach in Australia over the weekend, a major local authority said it would carry out an audit of the safety signs at the site.
The body of Laith Alaid, from western Sydney, was recovered from the sea off NSW’s Central Coast on Wednesday.
He was last seen on Sunday while trying to cross the channel with his father and three brothers.
According to lifeguards, the Entrance channel can be shallow to swim across at low tide. However, it becomes incredibly deep in seconds.
The incident has prompted many people to call for the beach’s safety signs to be reviewed.
A spokesperson for the Central Coast Council told Yahoo News Australia that it would carry out the audit once the investigations into the incident have been concluded.
The organization offered its condolences to the Alaid family.
The child reportedly went missing while trying to cross a channel at The Entrance.
Although the council was not able to provide a specific statement regarding the investigation, it noted that it would look into the issue of the signage at the site.
Member for The Entrance David Mehan said the community should consider changing the warning signs.
In a statement, Mehan said he had asked the council to examine the signs in the channel to make sure that the messages are being delivered to the right people.
The accident has highlighted the need for more effective communication in other languages.
A spokesperson for the council confirmed that there are signs in the channel and that lifeguards are also stationed at The Entrance and North Entrance beaches.
According to a report released in Australia, about a quarter of the country’s drowning victims last year were migrants.
Most of these accidents happened within the first few years of moving to the country.