Woman charged after young Mannum woman flown to hospital after Australia Day River Murray incident

River users say Mannum was as “busy as hell” reporting a lack of police presence when a young swimmer was struck by a boat. Police say they were there and had ramped up patrols over the weekend.

The River Murray at Mannum. Picture: File

A young swimmer was flown to Adelaide and a woman has been charged after a woman was struck by a boat in the River Murray at Mannum on Sunday night.

Emergency services raced to Mannum just before 7pm on Sunday after reports a boat had collided with a swimmer.

The 20-year-old Mannum woman was taken to the local hospital before being flown to Adelaide with serious injuries.

The driver of the boat, a 43-year-old West Lakes Shore woman, was arrested and charged with causing harm by dangerous use of a vessel, operating a vessel without due care and operating a vessel with a prescribed concentration of alcohol.

Police allege she returned a positive reading of 0.142.

She was refused police bail and will appear in the Murray Bridge Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Investigations are continuing.

A Mannum resident told The Advertiser the activity on the river on Australia Day was extremely busy.

“Mannum has been busy as hell, the caravan park and the shacks have been full to the brim,” he said.

A social media user said the waters at Mannum were “absolute mayhem” over the weekend.

“With the amount of people on the river yesterday who don’t seem to know the rules, I’m surprised this is the only incident,” another user posted.

Others posted online they avoided the river due to the congestion.

“Been to Mannum once for Australia Day. Was absolutely ridiculous there, can see how this stuff happens,” a Facebook user said.

Other people holidaying in the area on Australia Day took to social media saying there weren’t adequate patrols along the river as many took to the water.

One man said there were “no police seen all weekend”.

“I know they can’t be everywhere, but they need to be somewhere,” he said in a Facebook comment.

Another said police and marine safety authorities in the area are “totally unresourced” when large numbers of tourists are in the area.

“Maybe the system needs to be looked at with more frequent license testing.”

River-users said Mannum was busy on Australia Day.

When asked how many water patrols were in the area, an SA Police spokesman declined to comment on numbers, but said there were officers “actively patrolling the Murray region over the long weekend”.

“As well as monitoring the metropolitan coast, police from the Water Operations Unit, Murray Mallee patrols and Marine Safety Officers have been actively patrolling the Murray region over the long weekend conducting alcohol and drug tests as well as safety compliance checks on the river and around boat ramp areas,” he said.

“Anyone who sees dangerous behaviour on or around waterways is urged to contact police immediately on 131 444 or 000 in an emergency.”

Earlier this month, SA Police urged river users to make water safety a priority leading into the Australia Day long weekend and launched Operation Riversafe.

Operation Riversafe is expected to continue until February 3, promoting safety and compliance on the Murray River with Water Operations teams deployed to Mannum, Morgan, Waikerie, Cadell, Lake Bonney, Blanchetown, Berri and Renmark.

Anyone who witnessed this incident or has footage that may assist the investigation is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at www.crimestopperssa.com.au or 1800 333 000.

Originally published as Woman charged after young Mannum woman flown to hospital after Australia Day River Murray incident