NSW has suffered its first drowning tragedy of the year with the body of a teenage boy located by police divers in the Shoalhaven River.
The divers began searching the river late on Friday after the alarm was raised out of concern for a 15-year-old boy who had failed to return to shore.
The 15-year-old had gone down to the river at Burrier, west of Nowra, with a 16-year-old friend for a swim about 6.30pm on Friday.
The pair were attempting to get back to the riverbank when the 15-year-old disappeared below the surface.
Emergency services were alerted. Members of the public participated in the search and then multiple agencies joined the effort, included officers from the NSW South Coast police district, police divers, NSW Ambulance, the Toll rescue helicopter and the State Emergency Service.
The teenager's body was located just before 1.30pm on Saturday.
