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marc
Ter info…en trek je eigen conclusies….
ook in Nam. zorg dat je te allen tijde voorbereid bent voor:…het onverwachte…alles dus! E.e.a. geldt met name voor degene die denken “zomaar” door Nam. te rijden en overal te komen zonder onoverkomelijke problemen.
Two perish in ill-planned desert trek
13apr05
TWO men who perished in the scorching West Australian desert made a desperate 14km trek to find water but went the wrong way and died just 9km from a well.
Without a detailed map, they had no way of knowing they were so close to the waterhole that would have saved their lives after their dilapidated Land Rover broke down.
While the victims have yet to be formally identified, police believe they are Bradley John Richards, 40, and his 21-year-old nephew Mac Bevan Cody, formerly of Warilla in NSW, but who had both been living in Carnarvon, 905km north of Perth.
They died on the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert, on the remote Talawana Track, 51km east of Cotton Creek in the Pilbara, after setting out without enough petrol and water.
They had failed to tell anybody of their plans to follow the unforgiving Canning Stock Route north to Kununurra to go fruit picking, and no one knew they were missing, police said.
They also set off without a map showing the location of more than 50 wells along the route, and carried only a mobile phone ? so had no way to call for help.
A station hand found their bodies and that of their dog beside their stricken vehicle last Friday, but the remote location meant it took until yesterday to recover them.
Forensic tests are expected to confirm their identities in the next few days.
The pair left the Pilbara town of Newman on March 28, passing through Cotton Creek, where they refuelled.
That was the last time they were seen alive, and police yesterday suggested the pair had no chance of making the journey safely.
Their four-wheel-drive had not even had enough fuel to reach the next petrol stop, and they had no more than 15 litres of water between them when they set out.
Investigations have shown the men set off on a desperate trek ? in temperatures pushing 40C ? to find water, walking west for 7km before giving up and returning to their vehicle.
Police have described the incident as a “disaster waiting to happen”. “Without wanting to pre-empt inquiries on behalf of the coroner, it appears these men ventured into one of the most remote parts of WA in an unreliable vehicle without enough fuel or water,” WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said.
"And to make matters worse it seems they didn't tell anyone where they were going, so no one knew they were overdue.
“It's just a disaster waiting to happen, and it did.”
Despite the distance they intended to travel, through some of Australia's most unforgiving terrain, the men's vehicle was not fitted with a two-way radio.
Mr O'Callaghan said the tragedy showed how vital it was to follow basic procedures when travelling in remote and rugged terrain.
With forward planning, the men could have found the nearby Georgia bore and survived until they were found, he said.
“Only 9km from where they had broken down was a bore . . . where they could have got plenty of water and would have survived for some days,” Mr O'Callaghan said.
