Two missing swimmers were thought to have been washed away by a flash flood at a popular swimming site in far north Queensland.
Twenty kilometres north of Port Douglas, emergency workers are desperately looking for the missing swimmers who were having a dip in Mossman Gorge.
The popular swimming area is likely to have been damaged by recent rain, which boosted water levels, and may have experienced a flash flood.
On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson from Queensland Ambulance reported that one road ambulance was on the site.
‘The rescue helicopter is on scene and has a critical care paramedic aboard,’ he said.
‘Two people have been reported missing just before 2pm in the water.
‘We were called at 1.54pm’.
A spokesperson of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said that the Swiftwater Rescue Unit was at Mossman Gorge.
There are six firefighting personnel on the site, and the unit is both upstream and downstream.
SES Regional Director for the Far North, Wayne Coutts, said that SES personnel and volunteers participated in the search for the missing swimmers.
He said, ‘We have members from Cairns North searching along the banks of the Mossman Gorge.’
A Queensland Police spokesperson confirmed the presence of police at the scene.
‘We are searching for two people swept away,’ he said.
‘We have search co-ordinators there and the SES are bringing a drone crew to help with the search.
‘As this location is a commercial entity, Workplace Health and Safety have been advised, we are taking this very seriously.’
»Urgent search underway as swimmers vanishes at the Mossman Gorge«