Boatie dead after overnight crash at Lake Awoonga

A man has died after he and another man were thrown from their fishing boat after an incident and left treading water for about 40 minutes in a Central Queensland lake

Lake Awoonga near Gladstone.

A man has died in a boating incident near Gladstone last night, after he and another man were thrown from their boat into the water while they were fishing.

Water police and other emergency services, including a rescue helicopter and Critical Care Paramedics, were called to reports of a boat crash at Lake Awoonga, about 30km from Gladstone in the Central Queensland region after 8pm on Thursday.

A water and aerial search by police and SES crews was successful in pulling a 42-year-old man from the water with non-life-threatening injuries, while a 68-year-old man was located in the water deceased.

It’s understood the pair had been looking for something at the back of their boat when one of the men pulled too hard on the steering wheel and they fell overboard.

The pair were treading water together for about 40 minutes and became hypothermic.

The men were local to the area and were friends.

Police are not treating the incident as suspicious.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.