A maritime rescue operation is currently underway off the shores of Port Lincoln, South Australia, as authorities race against time to locate two people lost at sea.
The incident unfolded just after 8:30pm yesterday when police received a distress call notifying them that five people went missing after setting off in the vessel from Port Lincoln.
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Superintendent Paul Bahr said the group of five were family members and close friends.
Police Water Operations Unit and Port Lincoln Police are coordinating the search effort along with resources from the local Sea Rescue.
At about 2am, PolAir spotted an upturned boat near Spilsby island, finding one man and one youth clinging to a reef.
Both survivors have been swiftly transported to a local hospital, and their condition is under close medical supervision.
The duo informed the police that at approximately 4pm yesterday, a wave swamped the boat, causing it to overturn and eject the occupants into the water.
At about 6:30am Tuesday, police confirmed that one person had been found dead in the water.
“That person is now being conveyed back to Port Lincoln by the State Emergency Services,” he added.
Police said the boat was recovered and brought to shore by another fishing boat.
Speaking on the ongoing efforts, Superintendent Bahr disclosed that the search strategy is heavily reliant on analysing drift patterns to determine potential locations.
“One of things we do is we mapped drift patterns,” Superintendent Bahr said.
“We do it through two means so that we have two separate independent analysis of where people or objects may drift,” he said.
However, Superintendent Bahr expressed optimism, highlighting the resilience of those found who had spent approximately 12 hours in the water and managed to survive.
“Now that we’re getting into daylight and things are warming up, there’s still hope.”
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