Babinda Boulders search: Why Devil’s Pool is so deadly

The ominously-named Devil’s Pool is made up of sections coined by locals as the “Chute” and the “Washing Machine”.

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THE ominously-named Devil’s Pool is made up of sections coined by locals as the “Chute” and the “Washing Machine”.

A particularly dangerous section of the Babinda Creek, it is wedged up in a gorge with a large body of running water channelled into a small section between large granite boulders.

Access to the site, which is 600m from the main swimming area of the Babinda Boulders, was restricted years ago and warnings posted on large signs, but some people have persisted to visit the area, which until this week had claimed at least 17 lives in the past 60 years.

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“Where the current smashes into cavities (in the boulders) and if you get caught in the undercurrent which pushes down, that’s when people get into trouble,” Division 1 councillor Brett Moller said.

“Certainly in my younger days I walked that stretch along the rocks, but I didn’t swim there. When the water level is low it is very innocuous.”

Babinda SES volunteer Phil Terranova said he had been involved in up to six rescues at the site.

“It’s one of those (places) where you’ve got to be very, very careful,” he said.

“The water rushes down through the rocks. There’s a really strong current.

“It’s like a washing machine because it swirls round and round. It’s all been fenced off, people shouldn’t be there.

“I don’t know why people still go there.”

Another local SES volunteer, 96-year-old Dulcie Schnitzerling, who has been a member of the organisation for 40 years, said her husband was involved in a search for another person who disappeared there 27 years ago, which lasted three weeks.

“It’s quite a current of water out there,” she said.

“Whether (the missing woman) was a good swimmer or got caught in the current, I don’t know.”

Far North police Acting Insp Jason Smith said nine other people were there when an 18-year-old Cairns woman vanished on Monday afternoon.

“People have to heed the warnings, read the signs. They’re there for a reason,” he said.

“It’s concerning to us that she was in that space and concerning to us that there were so many people swimming in that space.”

Originally published as Babinda Boulders search: Why Devil’s Pool is so deadly