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Face Ache · 12:39 AM

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...941698269.html

Man killed in NT crocodile attack

Terrified and rain-soaked, two teenagers clung to a tree for 22 hours after a crocodile killed their mate in a swollen river in the Northern Territory.

Shaun Blowers and Ashley McGough, both 19, huddled together in the tree at Finniss River, 80km south west of Darwin, after the killer crocodile "showed off" the body of Brett Mann in its jaws, before stalking them throughout the night and next morning.

The trio had been on a quad bike ride on Sunday and were washing off their mud-soaked bodies in the afternoon when Mr Mann, 22, was swept away in the fast flowing river.

The pair swam out to rescue him, but were beaten by a four-metre saltwater crocodile lurking nearby.

"We'd been playing around in the mud and everything on our bikes, and spraying each other just like we normally do," Mr Blowers said.

"We went down to the river, parked the bikes just up off the banks ... and just had a bit of a bath, just washing all our clothes and boots and everything else full of all sand and mud.

"Brett went out just a little bit further, it was a real sandy bank and just lost his footing and got swept away.

"We both jumped in and swam after him and we got in front of him and were leading him back to the bank.

"I went past the croc, I didn't see it, Ashley (did and) screamed out `croc, croc'... we just swam to the nearest tree and straight up we went.

"We were looking around for Brett (but) didn't hear a thing, didn't hear a scream, no splashing or anything.

"Two minutes later the croc brought Brett to the surface and pretty much showed him off to us and off he swam.

"Five minutes later he was back stalking the tree around us, he just hung around us all night and pretty much all the next morning."

The pair were winched to safety by police in a helicopter at 3pm (CST) yesterday after a day long search, mounted when the alarm was raised by friends and family anxious at the group's failure to return as expected on Sunday night.

They were treated for shock and exposure at Royal Darwin Hospital, before being released last night.

Mr Blowers said the knowledge his family was out looking for him helped get him through the horrific ordeal.

"I knew they would be out ... when they found out I wasn't home," he said.

"I didn't expect to be found that night but I knew they would be out looking."

The pair huddled together to stay warm, with the tree swaying in the wet and windy conditions brought on by Cyclone Debbie which skirted the NT earlier this week.

"(We didn't say) not a whole lot until the morning, we just sort of made sure - because we couldn't see each other all night, it was so dark and cold - I had my hand on Ashley's foot pretty much ... we were just checking on each other making sure we weren't going to sleep," Mr Blowers said.

Authorities were today searching the river for the remains of Mr Mann, a diesel mechanic from Darwin, and for the crocodile.

The poor weather was hampering the search, involving a helicopter, several dinghies and police on quad bikes.

Bugger.

Zoom_zoom · Dec 23, 2003, 01:24 AM

heard that on the radio this morning..

Tragic

GoGoReggieXPowars · Dec 23, 2003, 12:10 PM

I didn't know crocodiles ran NT...

MacGorilla · Dec 23, 2003, 12:21 PM

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
I didn't know crocodiles ran NT...

Probably explains what killed him. Oooops. Bad MacGorilla. Baaaaaad.

benb · Dec 23, 2003, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
I didn't know crocodiles ran NT...

Yup. They're actually in the middle of migrating to Server 2003 as we speak.

Jim Paradise · Dec 23, 2003, 01:13 PM

Originally posted by MacGorilla:
Probably explains what killed him. Oooops. Bad MacGorilla. Baaaaaad.

No banana today for you.

theolein · Dec 23, 2003, 02:10 PM

Reminds me of that German girl who got killed by a croc last year. Given that the things are no longer on the endangered list, wouldn't it be a good idea to start culling some of the more aggressive ones that venture too far upstream?

DBursey · Dec 23, 2003, 02:32 PM

wouldn't it be a good idea to start culling some of the more aggressive ones that venture too far upstream?

I'd say that's exactly what the croc had in mind.

wdlove · Dec 23, 2003, 03:56 PM

It's sad whenever someone dies so tragically.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 23, 2003, 05:24 PM

Originally posted by DBursey:
I'd say that's exactly what the croc had in mind.

that's wrong, but funny.