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U.S. tourist robbed of 40,000 USD in Australia's Queensland

Xinhua, August 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

An American tourist who came to Australia's Queensland to buy a boat has been robbed of the 40,000 U.S. dollars he was planning to use for the purchase, NewsCorp reported on Tuesday.

The victim, John Markewicz from Washington, was walking along a path just north of the Botanic Gardens in Cairns when he was pushed to the ground by two young men and robbed of his backpack, which contained the cash.

Markewicz, 56, gave chase and later found that his backpack and towel, but his cash, his passport and phone were all gone. The two assailants were also nowhere to be seen.

Markewicz said he was holding the cash because he had travelled to Australia to purchase a boat and sail back home across the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii and other islands.

Teh American man added that he had recently abandoned his plan after he failed to find the right boat for the right price and was due to purchase a flight home that afternoon when the tragedy struck.

"I wanted to take the boat home, moor it, live on it, a lot of people do it there," Markewicz said.

However, despite the attack, Markewicz said he felt no animosity to Australia.

"It can happen anywhere. I feel safer here than in Honolulu," he said. "There are bad people everywhere - it could happen to anybody."

Disorientated after the attack, Markewicz did not get a good look at his assailants, only to tell police that they were young men and one was blonde.

Meanwhile, Cairns police have issued a warning to all employees at currency exchange bureaus across Queensland, urging them to be careful when accepting U.S. dollars. Endit