CANBERRA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Three people have been confirmed to have died when their fishing boat capsized off the coast of South Australia (SA).
Authorities on Tuesday night confirmed that an emergency search and rescue operation had found the bodies of two passengers who were missing after the boat capsized on Monday near Spilsby Island 200 km west of Adelaide in the Spencer Gulf.
It comes after the discovery of the first body and the rescue of two survivors, a 44-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy, from a reef in the early morning on Tuesday.
The survivors, who have been identified as leading Flinders University sleep specialist Danny Eckert and his son, told SA Police that their boat was capsized by a wave at 4:00 p.m. (GMT 0630) on Monday afternoon, leaving them clinging to a reef awaiting help for 10 hours.
Family of those on board alerted police at 8:30 p.m. (GMT 1100) on Monday night when the boat failed to return from the fishing trip, prompting an emergency search that included helicopters, police boats and a redirected cruise ship.
After they were found and winched to safety, the survivors were taken to hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries including hypothermia.
SA Police Superintendent Paul Bahr said at a press conference on Tuesday that investigations into the incident would continue.
"They were fishing near Spilsby Island when they were swamped by a wave, overturning the boat and throwing everyone into the water," Bahr said.
"We're still talking to the survivors, so we're still trying to put that picture together in terms of how they ended up on the reef away from the boat."
The damaged boat hull was found upturned near Spilsby Island in the early hours of Tuesday morning and has been taken to a police holding yard for forensic testing. ■
