Family hit with tragic phone call

THE Japanese parents of an exchange student who died while snorkelling at Green Island have received the crushing phone call notifying them of his death.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner after the boy’s motionless body was pulled from the water on Wednesday.

Lifeguards applied CPR to the 16- year- old but were unable to resuscitate him.

Steven Garland from the Japanese Consular Office in Cairns said the boy’s closest family members were deciding what steps to take next.

“We have been involved, assisting both the police and the family in the matter,” he said.

“They’re in discussions about whether to come to Australia or not – they’re not clear on that themselves.”

Mr Garland confirmed the boy was on an exchange trip to Australia but was unaware whether he was based in Cairns during his stay.

Study Cairns president Carol Doyle had contacted all of her organisation’s providers but none were believed to have hosted him.

“He might have been a student on a short- term study tour – more of a group excursion or tourist- type group,” she speculated.

The suspected drowning is Green Island’s eighth in the past decade.