FISHING SMACK CAPSIZED

Otago Witness, Issue 3148, 15 July 1914, Page 26

FISHING SMACK CAPSIZED

SYDNEY, July 11. Last night a fishing party of 13 were returning to Tweed Heads when their launch capsized three-quarters of a mile from land. Six of the party managed to reach the shore in an exhausted condition. The body of a seventh/ Mr A. Buchanan, also drifted ashore. Six men are missing—Messrs A. Arnold, C. Gibson, G. Biggott, Freeney, J. Barrett, and Badham. A tugboat was prevented from crossing the bar and going in search of possible survivors owing to a high sea running. Another vessel put out and signalled late at night that her sejfrch had been unsuccessful. The weather is bitterly cold, and there -is little hope that any of the missing men, even if they managed to keep afloat, could survive the exposure. July 12. The bodies of three victims of the Tweed Heads disaster have been recovered. When the boat overturned, the big waves running in the channel washed the men who were clinging to it, who were numbed with the bitter cold, off the ~ upturned boat. Buchanan made gallant efforts to save Freeny, but ho became exhausted and

was dashed against the rocks and sank. There is evidence that sharks attacked some of the victims when attempting to reach land.