British man dies after being bitten by a sea snake
Written by News on 05/10/2018
A British man has died after being bitten by a sea snake in Australia.
The 23-year-old, who has not been named, was working on a fishing trawler 70 miles south of Groote Eylandt, an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, when he was bitten.
It happened as he pulled up a net at about 12pm on Thursday.
Paramedics and a helicopter crew were summoned, but the man had died before they reached him, and he was pronounced dead at Borroloola.
Craig Garraway, from St John Ambulance, told ABC News: “A trawler off Groote Eylandt had reported that one of their male crewmen had been bitten by a sea snake.
“The Groote Island health clinic and police responded to the trawler, but unfortunately the male passed away at some point yesterday afternoon.”
An inquiry and a post-mortem will be carried out.
The Foreign Office confirmed it is supporting the family of a British man who died in the Northern Territory.
Five years ago, Ryan Donoghue died after he was electrocuted while using a power tool on board a prawn trawler in Cairns.
Despite the efforts of the crew, he died on the trawler while it was still 11 hours from the port.
(c) Sky News 2018: British man dies after being bitten by a sea snake
