Bodies recovered after three drown in crowded 4WD swept into Northern Territory floodwaters
Updated
The bodies of a woman and two men have been recovered after their troop carrier trying to cross a flooded causeway south-west of Darwin was swept off the road with 20 people on board.
The vehicle was pulled into the Moyle River near Peppimenarti while on its way to Wadeye some time before 9:00pm on Friday night.
Seventeen people managed to escape but the three victims, including a 61-year-old woman and 21-year-old man, were trapped inside the car which became submerged in the river.
A search on Friday night failed to locate them and Saturday's recovery effort was hampered by fast-moving water before the Water Police were able to reach the vehicle in the afternoon.
"Once the boat got there, unfortunately our police staff located three bodies inside the vehicle," Duty Superintendent James O'Brien said.
"Northern Territory police can confirm that the three missing people from last night's incident were located this afternoon within that troop carrier."
He said all three victims were believed to be local to the Daly River area.
The other passengers who escaped the vehicle were not hurt but Duty Superintendent O'Brien said the experience had been traumatic.
The causeway was covered with 60 centimetres of water at the deepest point on Friday night, and is considered impassable by local police at 40 centimetres.
Topics: floods, road, death, peppimenarti-0822, nt
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