Grim search for missing swimmer to enter fourth day
Police divers, drones, the rescue helicopter, a QFES swiftwater rescue and 23 SES personnel have been battling wet and slippery conditions in the search for a missing woman at Mossman Gorge as the operation enters its fourth day.
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The grim search for a woman swept away in Mossman River is set to enter a fourth day on Monday.
The 54-year-old woman, believed to be a tourist, entered the water to swim at the Mossman Gorge waterhole on Friday.
She was seen in distress and was swept downstream, police officer in charge Senior Sergeant Ed Lukin said.
He said she was last seen at a large rock in the river and had not been seen since.
A large scale search has been underway since emergency services responded at 1.50pm on Friday, but efforts have been hampered search hours limited by wet and slippery conditions and lack of light in the densely-forested gorge.
The Air Rescue 510 helicopter swept the area again on Sunday, police divers and police on foot searched, and the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services swift water rescue team has been in action.
SES Far Northern regional director Wayne Coutts said the search stopped at about 4pm on Sunday and would start at 7am on Monday.
“It’s raining off and on in up in the mountains, it’s not as dangerous as is it was yesterday,” Mr Coutts said.
There were 23 SES personnel including drone operators as well as police divers involved on Sunday.
“It is absolutely dangerous, trying to get in close to the river bank and check around rocks and in holes, it puts our people right there for a slip, it’s wet and raining and there’s poor communications,” Mr Coutts said.
“We’ve had a couple of slips and scrapes and they’ve gone to the ambulance for first aid.
“It’s almost impossible to attend an event like this for so many days and not have incidents, although we keep everybody as safe as we can,” he said.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Harry Clark said showers and thunderstorms were forecast in the region for the next seven days.
Mr Coutts said the SES had been called out to several swimming hole jobs recently.
“I’d remind people in North Queensland in the wet season, there can be a lot of rain in the hills and the water level can quickly go up – a lot of these places look lovely, but they can be very, very dangerous,” he said.
The Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre website advises against swimming in the river, saying people have been injured and deaths have occurred at Mossman Gorge.
“The Mossman River is an unpredictable and inherently dangerous waterway that can and does change drastically – and quickly,” it states.
“The Mossman River is also unsupervised and water conditions are not regularly monitored.
“Entering the Mossman River can be dangerous even when it appears calm and shallow near the shore, due to a combination of strong currents, cold deep water, and submerged objects including rocks and floating logs.
“Water conditions can change very quickly and unexpectedly, particularly in times of high rain, and flash flooding can occur even when it is not raining in the immediate area.”
The cultural centre discourages visitors from walking from the carparking area up to the gorge – which is part of the Daintree National Park – and charges a fee for its shuttle bus service.
It is managed by Voyages Indigenous Tourism, which has another attraction at Uluru.
Cultural Centre general manager Rachael Hodges said she was unable to comment.
The gorge is closed to the public but the cultural centre with its cafe and gallery is still operating.
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Originally published as Grim search for missing swimmer to enter fourth day
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