Tourist flown from Cid Harbour after battery explosion

He suffered serious burns on a boat so a crewman was lowered into the water to help rescue him.

A tourist was winched from his boat in Cid Harbour after a battery exploded in his face. Picture: RACQ CQ Rescue

THE same rescue crewman who previously attended three shark attacks at Cid Harbour returned to the same waters today to help a tourist after a battery exploded in their face.

It is believed the 67-year-old man was working on a powerboat when the battery blew up about 1pm on Wednesday.

He suffered serious injuries and burns to his face and left arm.

His wife, who was onboard the 6.5m single-hull vessel at the time of the incident, called emergency services.

A RACQ CQ Rescue helicopter was tasked to Cid Harbour. Picture: RACQ CQ Rescue

However, because the boat battery was dead, the RACQ CQ Rescue crew was unable to make contact with the vessel through the marine radio.

The rescue crew instead winched crewman Ben McCauley into the water at Cid Harbour where he swam five metres to board the vessel.

Mr McCauley is the same rescue crewman who attended all three shark attacks in Cid Harbour in 2018.

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After reaching the vessel, he loaded the injured man and his wife into a small tender to travel to shallow water nearby.

The rescue helicopter landed on the shore and the man was met by a doctor and critical care paramedic.

He was stabilised before the crew flew to Hamilton Island to refuel.

The injured man and his wife are now being transferred to Mackay Base Hospital and the man is in a stable condition.

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