Copper Squad

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Townsville Bulletin
Two nights lost in bush

JESSICA JOHNSTON
28Apr07

FIVE people were missing for two nights in remote bushland near Doomadgee after their car broke down this week.

Two men, two women and a five-year-old child were stranded for two nights before they were found early yesterday.Mount Isa District Search and Rescue Coordinator Constable Alex Door said the five Aboriginal people had set out for a fishing trip on Wednesday morning.They left Doomadgee about 8am, headed for old Doomadgee, with plans to return about 4pm the same day.Constable Dorr said police were told of the missing people about 7.30pm on Thursday, more than 24 hours after they were expected to return."Police were particularly concerned for one of the females in the group who suffers a serious medical condition and was not believed to be carrying medication," Constable Dorr said.

A rescue coordination centre was established in Mount Isa and the search and rescue mission began.Constable Dorr said a fixed wing aircraft and a helicopter had searched for the group between Doomadgee and old Doomadgee.Constable Dorr said a fixed wing aircraft with Forward Looking Infra-red, which would allow people to be spotted at night, was deployed from Darwin to help with the search.

The Mount Isa community helicopter was sent up at first light and the Cairns rescue chopper was put on stand-by."About 8am, the plane reported a possible sighting of the missing persons and the chopper was sent to investigate," Constable Dorr said.He said three people had been found with their vehicle about 90km north of Doomadgee.A man and woman, both aged in their 40s, and a five-year-old child were airlifted to Doomadgee."It appears they have had mechanical difficulties with their vehicle, and spent two nights in the bush as a result," Constable Dorr said."We found three people together, but the two younger had walked away from the vehicle yesterday."

Constable Dorr said the other two people were spotted walking along the road as the chopper was flying back to Doomadgee and a police car was sent to collect them."At this stage the recovered persons are all safe and well with no major health concerns," he said.

Constable Dorr said the search was the first rescue mission for the new Mount Isa community helicopter, which has been in Mount Isa since March 19 on a trial period.

"It was great, it made a huge difference having a chopper here because the Cairns one was a minimum of five hours away.
"This one's here, ready to go the whole time and we made it up there in one hour and 45 minutes."

Constable Dorr said in an emergency situation, every second counted and the chopper could make the difference between life and death.