Off the wire
• Cambodia marks Culture Day with traditional arts show  • PNG seeks closure of controversial Australian immigration processing center  • 1st LD Writethru: Afghan forces recapture northern Dand-e-Ghori district  • Positive thinking constructive to prolong life span: study  • China forming plane engine conglomerate  • Brazil's gov't, mining company reach billion-dollar settlement on dam disaster  • Chinese firm buys German waste-to-energy company  • Indian stocks open higher  • Australian gender pay gap revealed  • Roundup: S.Korea's headline inflation rebounds on high food prices  
You are here: 　 Home

Missing Chinese sailor sparks major police search in Australian outback

Xinhua, March 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Chinese sailor has gone missing in the Australian outback sparking a desperate rescue operation.

Western Australian (WA) police have grave fears for the welfare of a Chinese national, who was last seen in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Sergeant Jerry Samoa, from Roebourne Police Station, said the 42-year-old man was part of a crew that docked a company boat at Cape Lambert, 1,500 kilometers north of WA's capital city, Perth.

"Apparently he's left the vessel on foot and was last seen walking off the Cape Lambert site," Samoa told reporters on Thursday.

The nearest town to Cape Lambert, a well-known port owned by British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto, of Port Sampson is located around 11 kilometers away.

Samoa said there were a number of factors which could put the sailor' life in jeopardy if he wasn't found soon.

"Our main concern is that he's not familiar with the area, with the terrain, and given the weather conditions yesterday in excess of 40 degrees we're very concerned for his safety," he said.

"We don't think he had any water with him so if he was out there all day yesterday, then he would be under some sort of heat stress."

But police were hopeful that he may have been picked up while walking along the road by a passing car, and didn't realize people were looking for him.

"There is a good chance he may have got to a vehicle, we're not quite sure at the moment, but if anyone does see him or pick him up then they can notify us and we will certainly try and locate him," Samoa said.

Samoa said authorities believed the missing Chinese sailor may be attempting to stay in Australia permanently without a passport or visa.

Samoa said a full-scale search would be put into action this afternoon.

"We're going to continue the search in the scrubland heading toward Wickham town site, making sure that he hasn't tripped over or injured himself," he said.

"Failing that we will expand the search and then make an assessment after that." Endit