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Trio swept through flooded stormwater drain, one survives

By staff writers

January 21, 2008 01:15pm Article from: NEWS.com.au

A MAN has survived being swept a kilometre down a flooded stormwater drain but his two companions drowned when they were trapped behind bars at the drain's outlet to the sea.

Police say it was a miracle anyone survived the freak accident yesterday at Sydney's eastern beaches.

The two men and a woman got into the drain through a manhole at Maroubra yesterday afternoon to spraypaint graffiiti on the walls, police said.

They became trapped when it began raining and the drain filled with water.

All three were swept a kilometre down the drain and ended up at the barred outlet to the sea.

A 25-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman drowned but a 27-year-old man survived by squeezing through a tiny gap in the bars and being swept out to sea.

Locals saw the man waving from the ocean and went out on surfboards to rescue him.

Police Inspector Eddie Bosch called the man's survival a miracle.

"It was amazing that anyone survived. He (the survivor) had hardly a scratch on him."

A helicopter rescue crewman and two local lifesavers pulled the bodies of the man's companions from the drain.

The crew chief of the Westpac rescue helicopter said the men were incredibly brave in retrieving the bodies.

Lifesavers Paul Moffatt and Peter Halcro, and volunteer rescue crewman Brett Christensen, went into the flooded drain several times.

"It was over and above the call of duty," said crew chief Tony Wood.

"They were very brave and I've seen a lot of bravery in my time."

He said the men faced a deluge coming from the drain and 2m waves behind them, and became pinned against the bars at one point.

The outlet was about 2m by 2m, with the bars only 10cm apart.

Mr Halcro and Mr Moffatt said conditions inside the drain made the recovery incredibly difficult.

"Inside the drain it was going dark with the surf pounding up through the drain ... while these bodies were just floating around and there was also stormwater coming out the other way," Mr Halcro said.

"We were dealing with dirty water and large surf."

Mr Moffatt, who worked with Mr Halcro to work the bodies out through the bars, towed the body of the woman out to sea so the rescue helicopter could winch it to a nearby rock ledge.

He said it was one of the trickiest operations he had ever done.

Steve Simmons, who helped rescue the survivor, said his teenage son had seen him while looking out of the window of their home.

They grabbed their surfboards and paddled out to the man, who they said was drunk, and strapped him to a board with a leg-rope.

When he got to shore, the man ran straight back to the drain.

"He got out of the water, he just panicked," Mr Simmons said on Channel 9.

"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 survivor is expected to be interviewed tonight and might face charges.

Insp Bosch said the man had been treated and released from hospital.

"We got a version off the survivor, he's yet to make a formal statement," he said.

"He was pretty incoherent and he was shocked at what had happened."

- with AAP

Submitted on 02/22/2008

Submitted by: Cliff Smale
Reference: news.com.au

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, Cliff, we received this story numerous times when the incident occurred last month.

James said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
As Bruce said!

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2008 Slush Pile

Giving All For Art

2008 Reader Submission Pending Acceptance

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance