Australia: Search continues for missing men

Image: Queensland Police Service
Image: Queensland Police Service – The fishing trawler, Dianne, capsized last Monday.

Australian police are shifting the focus of their search for four men who remain missing after their fishing trawler sunk off the Queensland coast last Monday night.

The bodies of two crew were retrieved over the weekend from Dianne, which sank in heavy seas north of the town of 1770.

Only one crew member of seven was rescued, after he clung to the overturned hull for several hours.

The efforts of a nine-member diving team have been hampered by poor conditions and a large amount of debris through the overturned boat, which sits on its roof 30 metres below the surface.

After days of searching, police conceded the search had become a recovery mission.

Two police vessels will use sonar near where Dianne was found.

“We’ll continue with patrols along the coastline, by vehicle, by foot and also a fixed-wing aircraft will again search the coastal areas,” Inspector Darren Somerville told abc.net.au.


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