Man, 72, holds off crocodile until being rescued after it capsized his boat and killed his friend in northern Australia

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A 72-year-old man threw spark plugs and spanners to fend off advancing crocodiles for three hours after one capsized his boat, drowning his friend in a Northern Territory creek.

The two Victorian men set out from a boat ramp near Gunn Point, about 38km northwest of Darwin, on Tuesday morning, but as they attempted to bring crab pots into their small fishing boat, a crocodile caused it to capsize and they were thrown into the water.

“They tried to climb back on the boat and it further capsized and that’s when his mate was caught underneath it and drowned,” said Ian Badham, director of CareFlight NT.

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“As he was trying to crawl to shore near the mangroves was when he had to use a spanner and sparkplugs, throwing things and banging at other crocs trying to get to him ... It was just a sheer act of desperation and survival.”

One man drowned, while his friend threw items at other approaching crocodiles until he managed to push the boat into the relative safety of mangroves, Badham said.

He was in the water for three hours before some professional crabbers heard his shouts and rescued him, taking him back to the boat ramp along with his friend’s body.

The surviving man was treated for severe shock before being flown to Darwin.

The NT has a notoriously large crocodile population, thought to be about 100,000 or about one for every two Territorians.

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Last year the NT coroner held an inquest into the deaths of two fishermen, one of whom was taken by a saltwater crocodile after he waded into the Adelaide River to unhook a lure.

Another was killed when a crocodile lunged out of the water and snatched him from his boat in Kakadu.

That attack, in June 2014, is thought to have been the first time a crocodile was bold enough to take someone out of a boat.

The inquest found there should be warnings about the increased risk of crocodiles attacking boats, particularly smaller vessels, as crocodiles could reach up to six metres in length, twice as long as a small tinny.