Missing New Zealand man found in Darwin hospital

7.15pm

One of three New Zealanders missing from the bomb blast area of Bali has turned up - in Darwin.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Brad Tattersfield said this evening that Dean McDougall was in a Darwin hospital with leg injuries.

Mr Tattersfield had no other details about Mr McDougall's condition, but he confirmed the 25-year-old Wellington accountant was one of three missing New Zealanders for whom concerns were held in the wake of the bombings.

One of Mr McDougall's friends, Craig Lough, spoke to the Holmes show from Bali tonight.

Mr Lough said they had been looking around hospitals in Bali and were beginning to get anxious.

"So we were delighted when we heard the news".

He said an official had phoned from Wellington minutes earlier to tell him Mr McDougall had been found.

"She had been trying to get hold of the hospital in Darwin and I believe Dean woke up, told them who he was and that he wanted to tell his parents that he was okay," Mr Lough said.

Dean McDougall's father Jim told Holmes it was "great news - just a marvellous feeling... It's been the longest few hours in my life".

Mr McDougall said a doctor had phoned from Darwin to say "Dean was very good at charades and was able to give out his name and telephone number.

"She said he'd be shifted. We're just awaiting a return call from the doctor. She'll tell us what's happening from there."

Mr McDougall headed to Bali on Saturday with four flatmates for a week's holiday. They were all out together at a nightclub on their first night when the bombs ripped through Kuta Beach.

The other four men phoned home to say they were safe.

Another of Mr McDougall's friends who survived the blasts tonight flew out of Bali to Singapore for medical treatment.

Mark Skridulaitis, 27, was holidaying on the island with his pals before going on alone to London to begin his "Big OE".

His mother, Maureen Skridulaitis, said tonight her son had burns to his face, hands and arms.

"He told me he has two big holes in his leg as well as the blast burns," she said.

"After spending a day looking for Dean with his friends, he decided to get out to Singapore to see a doctor there. He will see a doctor, then fly on to London."

Mr Skridulaitis left Bali on a 6pm (NZ time) flight tonight.

He had worked as a systems analyst at ANZ bank in Wellington, before resigning to start his travels.

Mrs Skridulaitis said her son had received treatment in Bali, but was still concerned about his wounds.

Alan Lough, father of Craig Lough, said everyone was "elated".

"Craig and the boys are now waiting to get out of Bali. They would like to come home to New Zealand via Darwin so they can see Dean, but that's looking unlikely."

Mr Lough said his son phoned him in Wellington tonight with the good news, but said he did not know any details about how Mr McDougall had been found or what happened to him.

Earlier in the day Elaine and Jim McDougall had not heard from their son, Dean, and Mrs McDougall criticised the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) as being "as useless as tits on a bull" over keeping the family informed.

Her concerns prompted Prime Minister Helen Clark to contact her this morning.

"I was concerned to hear that she felt that she hadn't had sufficient feedback and support from Mfat," Miss Clark told reporters before the news came through that Mr McDougall was alive.

She said the ministry was focused on trying to find Mr McDougall and had beefed up its presence in Bali in an effort to find him and other New Zealanders.

- NZPA

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Feature: Bali bomb blast

Pictures from the scene of the blast

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