By Steve Williams For Daily Mail Australia
01:42 16 Jul 2024, updated 02:22 16 Jul 2024
- Men are believed to be aged in their late 20s and early 30s
- A rescue helicopter is en route
An urgent search and rescue operation is underway after two swimmers failed to surface at Millaa Millaa Falls, approximately 90km south-west of Cairns. Three friends jumped into the water and when one did not resurface, his friend entered the water to find him.
The male friend has been rushed to hospital while the two men still missing are believed to be aged in their late 20s and early 30s.
Emergency services responded to reports of two people missing around 8.55am.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said four crews were on the scene to assist the Queensland Fire Department.
A rescue helicopter is en route, and police and Queensland Ambulance Service called to the scene.
‘We’re being tasked to assist search and rescue for two people who’ve gone missing at the falls,’ the spokeswoman said.
‘We’ve got four units responding. One of those is a search and rescue helicopter.
‘A third male has been transported to hospital.’
A popular tourist attraction, Millaa Millaa Falls is one of the Far North’s most iconic waterfalls.
Millaa Millaa Falls is a heritage-listed plunge waterfall approximately 18.3 metres in height.
It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 December 2005.
The falls are adjacent to the town of Millaa Millaa on the Atherton Tableland.
In March, a 20-year-old international student went missing after he leapt from a ledge into water at Crystal Cascades, west of Cairns, and failed to surface.
A search and rescue operation was launched by emergency services and divers recovered his body the next day.
It is understood the tourist was swept downstream after swimming at the top of a set of waterfalls – an area marked as a no-swim zone.
Crystal Cascades waterfall is a popular swimming destination for locals and tourists alike, but is also the site of numerous drowning deaths.
In April 2023, a father and son, aged 59 and 21-years-old, were declared dead after they were found unresponsive in waters near the falls.
More to come.