Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has confirmed the identity of a missing Taiwanese national who drowned while swimming in an Australian lake on Christmas day.

According to MOFA, police notified Taiwan’s representative office in Australia on Dec. 26 that they had found the dead body of the 33-year-old man, surnamed Yen (?).

The Taiwanese national was reported missing on Dec. 25 by friends who were swimming with him at Black Diamond Lake near the town of Collie in south-west Western Australia.

MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (???) said MOFA and the representative office had notified Yen’s family in Taiwan and expressed their condolences.

The ministry will help Yen’s family to visit Australia as soon as possible to take care of the aftermath of the incident, Ou added.

According to Australian media reports, the man went swimming with his friends in Black Diamond Lake at around 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Day.

The man’s friends later lost sight of him and notified police after searching for him for an hour.

A search involving a police helicopter and officers from Collie as well as members of the public on paddleboards located the man’s body, which divers recovered from the lake at 3 p.m. Monday.

The man, described as an average swimmer, had swum from one side of the lake to the other and was on his way back when the party lost sight of him.

According to MOFA, Taiwanese people in Australia requiring emergency assistance should call +61-418-284-531 if they are in Canberra and Western Australia; or +61-418-415-572 if they are in Sydney or New South Wales.

Those in Victoria, Southern Australia, or Tasmania should contact Taiwan’s Melbourne office on +61-413-880-934, while those in Queensland or the Northern Territory should call +61-437-921-431 to reach the Brisbane office.

Alternatively, relatives in Taiwan can call MOFA’s Taipei headquarters via a 24/7 emergency hotline at 0800-085-095.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel