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SYDNEY - Two people who drowned in a flooded storm water drain in Sydney's east were were spraying graffiti on the walls at the time, police say.
Three people were inside the drain at Maroubra at about 5.30pm yesterday when it started to rain and the drain filled
with water, trapping them inside.
The three were washed down the drain towards Lurline Bay, about a kilometre away, sparking a search by police on foot, PolAir and the Westpac rescue helicopter.
A 27-year-old Pennant Hills man escaped from the drain with help from nearby residents, but the bodies of a 25-year-old West Pennant Hills man and a 21-year-old St Peters woman were located inside the drain.
Officers later searching the drain found a bag of spray paint cans inside, police said.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
Steve Simmons, who went to the rescue of the 27-year-old survivor on a surfboard, said his teenage son had sighted him while looking out the window of their home.
They had grabbed their surfboards and paddled out to the man, who was intoxicated, and managed to strap him to a board with a leg-rope.
On reaching shore, he ran straight back to the drain from which he had managed to escape.
"He got out of the water, he just panicked," Mr Simmons told the Nine Network.
"He ran straight round to the drain on the other side and he realised his two friends were dead.
"He was just distraught on the rock ledge next to the situation where they were and we just had to drag him up back away from it, otherwise he would have been back in the drink."
The crew chief on the Westpac rescue helicopter said his crewman and a local lifesaver had been incredibly brave during the ordeal of recovering the bodies.
Consultant flight aviation specialist and ex-Royal Marine Tony Wood said the pair, lifesaver Paul Moffatt and volunteer rescue crewman Brett Christensen, had gone into the flooded drain several times.
"It was over and above the call of duty," he told AAP.
"They were very brave and I've seen a lot of bravery in my time."
He said Mr Moffatt and Mr Christensen had battled difficult conditions to recover the bodies, at one point being pinned to the bars across the mouth of the drain.
"It was quite an intense period," he said.
"There was a deluge coming out.
"We had metre-and-a-half to two-metre waves."
He said Mr Moffatt had also been instrumental in getting the man who survived away from the scene.
"He was extremely distressed," he said.
"I still don't know how he (the survivor) managed to get out."
Mr Wood said the outlet measured about 2m by 2m with about 100mm between the bars, some which were bent.
- AAP