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Sydney police were yesterday deciding whether to charge the survivor of a flash flood that swept him out to sea but drowned two companions trapped in a stormwater drain.
Reportedly drunk and saved by father and son surfers who saw him waving desperately in pounding seas off Lurline Bay, near Maroubra, the 27-year-old's survival is being called a miracle.
His two companions, a 25-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, drowned after being pinned to the iron bars of a grating at the end of the drain, about 1km from where they had been painting graffiti when the flood surged in.
The pair died despite frantic and heroic attempts to save them by lifeguards, who themselves had to battle to survive. They were caught by floodwaters that poured into the drain after storms dumped torrential rain on Sydney on Sunday, prompting new warnings about the dangers of entering drains that have become playgrounds for urban cavers and thrillseekers.
A caver told the Sydney Morning Herald that the drain in which the pair died was known by locals as "the fortress". Others told ABC radio the drain was used by teenagers to "sewerslide" - washing down the drain on their bodyboards.
Police were yesterday discussing the sealing of the drain with Sydney Water, and Inspector Eddie Bosch told the ABC the survivor could be charged. "He's possibly entering enclosed lands at least and we'll certainly be looking at that."
The three had entered the drain at about 5.30pm on Sunday to paint graffiti, and had apparently not seen the massive front of black clouds that released a deluge on the city. Caught without warning, they were swept toward the ocean and pounded against a metal grill about 2m in diameter covering the outlet into the sea.
The survivor managed to squeeze through some of the bent bars, and was hurled into the sea, where he was seen by 17-year-old Luke Simmons.
Simmons and his father Steve grabbed their surfboards, plunged into the water and pulled him to safety.
"When I got out there I realised that this guy was completely drunk," Luke Simmons told ABC radio. "I had to physically grab his arm and strap the board [using the leg rope] to him to make sure he didn't fall off."
Steve Simmons told Channel Nine the man had immediately run back to the drain, to learn that his companions were dead. "He was just distraught on the rock ledge next to the situation where they were and we just had to drag him back away from it, otherwise he would have been back in the drink."
Lifeguards Peter Halcro and Paul Moffat forced their way into the drain after the trapped pair, risking their own lives as pounding water and large surf threatened to take them as well.
Moffat had been pinned to the outlet bars for a time. "When we were actually inside the stormwater drain the whole drain was going dark, with the surf pounding up through the drain," Halcro told ABC radio. "Everything went dark for a few seconds for us while the bodies were just floating around. There was also stormwater coming out the other way, so we were dealing with dirty water and large surf."
Last night AAP reported that extensive flooding and heavy rain continued across Queensland. About 1000 people fled their homes as the Queensland town of Emerald braced for major flooding overnight.
