Nine-year-old dies as Australia weekend drowning toll rises to seven

The majority of deaths were caused by strong swells washing people into the ocean from rocks.

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The majority of deaths were caused by strong swells washing people into the ocean from rocks. Two people remain missing.

Steven Pearce, the CEO of Surf Life Saving in New South Wales, where most of the fatalities occurred, told the ABC it was the "worst" spate of drownings on record for the Easter long weekend.

"It has just been horrendous on a weekend that's supposed to be joyous and religious," Pearce told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Emergency teams were able to retrieve the boy at South West Rocks, about 400 kilometres north of Sydney, but he died at the scene.