Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Three people rescued from remote NT river
Northern Territory police have rescued two men and a boy after their boat’s motor broke down and they drifted through the night on a crocodile-infested river.
October 1, 2020
Two fishermen and a boy have been rescued in the Northern Territory after their boat’s motor failed and they drifted through the night on a crocodile-infested river.
Police found the trio among mangroves near the mouth of the Adelaide River, east of Darwin, about 5am on Wednesday.
The men, aged 25 and 50, and the teenager had been fishing about 20km up a nearby Wiltshire Creek when their engine broke down about midnight.
“They spent some time trying to rectify the issue, then they tried to drift out into the main channel of the Adelaide River with the outgoing tide,” an NT police spokeswoman told AAP.
“A couple of hours later the tide started to come in again and push them back up the creek, they realised that was futile.”
The men activated an emergency beacon and a helicopter crew from the Tindal air force base, near Katherine, found the trio several hours later.
NT water police arrived several hours later and towed the men’s dinghy back to safety.