Update: Search and rescue, Archer River
Police and emergency services continue their search for a 69-year-old missing Weipa man after a vehicle was swept off a causeway at Archer River, north of Coen on Friday afternoon.
Initial information indicates two men were in a vehicle travelling south on the Peninsula Development Road when they attempted to cross the Archer River via a flooded causeway around 5.30pm.
The vehicle was swept downstream with one of the men managing to swim to the bank of the river, while the second occupant could not be located.
The incident was reported to police at around 3.30pm on Saturday and a search operation commenced at the site that afternoon.
Police and emergency services have searched the banks of the river system on-foot and by air in an effort to locate the missing man.
The Queensland Police Dive Unit has been deployed and is travelling from Brisbane. It is expected they will arrive in Cairns later today. They will transport specialist equipment to the Archer River by road and Cairns Tactical Crime Squad officers will travel with the divers to assist in the search.
The Archer River is a remote location in the Cape York Peninsula and it is expected that the road journey will take approximately 12 hours by road from Cairns. The Archer River remains flooded and impassable to all traffic as the river level is some 0.8 metres over the causeway.
It is expected that specialist divers will be on site tomorrow and dependant on conditions in the fast flowing waters of the Archer River, they will search for the vehicle and the missing man.
The Archer River is a freshwater river system and not inhabited by estuarine crocodiles.
As the area is in a remote location, communications are limited. The Archer River Road House has been inundated by calls from media and public and police request that people refrain from contacting the Roadhouse as they are not the point of contact for the search and rescue.
Police will release updated information as soon as this becomes available. At this stage, it is not expected that there will be any further advice from the QPS Dive Squad until tomorrow afternoon.
If you have information for police, contact Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24hrs per day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting.
Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au.
