AN IRISHMAN is feared drowned after apparently diving overboard from a cruise ship in Australia to save a female friend.
The 23-year-old, who has been named locally only as Seán, is believed to have been trying to save a friend when he disappeared in the Brisbane river, which flows through Brisbane in southeast Queensland.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it has been in touch with the man’s family in Ireland and has offered them consular assistance.
It is understood the pair were among about 120 people celebrating the 24th birthday of a friend on board the Lady Brisbane when the 26-year-old Irish woman first fell overboard.
The incident happened after 10pm on Saturday night, near the Hale Street link at Milton, a suburban village near Brisbane.
The woman was quickly rescued using a rope to haul her from the water. However, the man, who police believed could not swim, did not surface.
Jim Kelly, director of Brisbane Cruises which operates pleasure craft on the river, told local media the man and woman were kissing, when the woman slipped and fell.
The pair were said to have been sitting on a waist-high railing at the back of the vessel before the woman overbalanced and fell into the river about 10.25pm.
Mr Kelly said the crew managed to rescue the woman but the man never surfaced.
“We spent the next few hours and endless help of other vessels and water police and pedestrians to scour and comb the area. There was an infra-red helicopter which came as well,” he said.
“It was just near the end of the floodtide. We marked the location with a life buoy as well. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any evidence of the male person.”
Mr Kelly said he was “totally shocked” by the incident. He said he had been operating cruises in the area for over 20 years and no incident like this had happened before.
“I’ve never had any fatalities in this industry,” he said. “We like people to have a good time, but we like people to be safe. As soon as the person went overboard we stopped the music and the bar straight away.”
A search operation involving water police, coast guard vessels and a rescue helicopter was continuing yesterday.
Insp Ray Brownhill of the Queensland police service said on Saturday night water police were continuing extensive searches along the Brisbane river.
“We hold grave concerns for the man’s safety. We have police searching along the river from the Story Bridge down to the Green Bridge at St Lucia,” he said.
“We also have police on bicycles and are operating foot patrols off the river.”
The Irish Embassy in Canberra is said to be in close contact with authorities in Queensland.
