A 16-year-old Japanese high school student on a school trip to Australia has drowned while snorkeling, the Japanese consular office in Cairns said Saturday.
The second-year student at Hokuetsu High School in Niigata Prefecture was pulled unconscious from the water on Wednesday when he was visiting Green Island. Medical staff attempted to resuscitate him, but his death was later confirmed, according to the office.
The cause of the drowning, the eighth to have happened near the island in the past decade, is still unknown, according to local media reports.
The family of the student was informed of his death and has already arrived in Cairns. The high school will hold a special parent-teacher meeting on Sunday to explain the death, according to its website.
Green Island is a popular tourist destination and located on the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.