Father -to-be lost at sea

17.05.2010

QINTAO Wang will never see his
unborn child.
In just seconds, Mr Wang was
washed away by a powerful 2m wave
as he fished off rocks near North
Bondi on Saturday.
The 29-year-old, who is presumed
dead, broke the cardinal rule of rock
fishing: Never fish by yourself.
The Chinese-born accountant, who
graduated from the Central Queensland
University last year, is feared to
be the 16th fisherman to die off
Australia's coastlines this year.
His presumed
death comes less
than a week after
five Sydney anglers,
originally from
Hong Kong, were "' washed to their
deaths at Catherine
Hill Bav. south of
Newcastle.
The 2010 death
toll is already four more than last
year's total, with more than 90 per
cent of those killed originally from
Asian countries.
Mr Wang, also known as Don,
leaves behind his pregnant wife Emily
Wang. Two months pregnant, Ms
Wang was yesterday at the area
where her husband disappeared
known locally as the Bondi Murk
as the search continued.
Mr Wang, who moved to Australia
five years ago, had parked his blue
Toyota sedan in Blair St about 11am,
when he was spotted climbing down a
ladder to the fishing spot.
Friend Harry Wu said Mr Wang
took up rock fishing this year.
It was only the second time the
Parramatta man had fished at the
Bondi Murk, which is accessed by a
rusty ladder down a sheer cliff face
near the Bondi Golf Club.
"He was a beginner. He went
down to the same spot the weekend
before for the first time and didn't
have any trouble," Mr Wu said.
Pictures: Damien Shaw and Braden Fastier
"His wife is in shock. He had just
got permanent residency and was
looking for work."
Surf Life Saving Australia CEO
Brett Williamson said that Asian
communities would be targetted to
get the safety message across.
The group has hired multi-lingual
public relations specialists to target
non-English speaking communities.