Teens cling to tree for 22 hours after croc kills friend

Asian Economic News, Dec 29, 2003

SYDNEY, Dec. 23 Kyodo

Two teenagers spent 22 hours clinging to a tree in the middle of a storm-swollen river in Australia's Northern Territory after watching a 4-meter crocodile kill their friend, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported Tuesday.

Shaun Blowers and Ashley McGough, both 19, watched helplessly as the crocodile paraded the body of their 22-year-old friend Brett Mann in its jaws while it circled the tree they clung to throughout the night, the national broadcaster reported.

The three friends had been riding their trail bikes near the Finniss River, 80 kilometers southwest of Darwin, on Sunday afternoon when they stopped to wash mud off their bodies.

Mann ''went out just a little bit further, it was a real sandy bank and just lost his footing and got swept away,'' Blowers told AAP. The pair swam out to save their friend when they spotted the crocodile.

''We just swam to the nearest tree and straight up we went,'' he said. ''Two minutes later the croc brought (Mann) to the surface and pretty much showed him off to us and off he swam.''

''Five minutes later, he was back stalking the tree around us, he just hung around us all night and pretty much all the next morning,'' Blowers said.

The two teenagers huddled together to keep warm as the tree swayed in rain and wind caused by the tail-end of a cyclone.

''It was so dark and cold...We were just checking on each other making sure we weren't going to sleep,'' Blowers said.

Police mounted a search after friends and family reported the trio had failed to return on Sunday night. The pair was finally winched to safety by helicopter on Monday afternoon, AAP said.

The police continue to search the Finniss River for the body of Mann.