A 60-year-old man who walked almost 50km in searing heat after his car broke down in Australia’s inhospitable outback died only 2km from safety, police said yesterday.
The unnamed man was traveling with a woman in the Northern Goldfields, about 900km inland from the coastal city of Perth, when their car broke down on Sunday between Wonganoo and Windidda stations.
The following morning, he set out for help, walking toward Windidda Station 48km away with a “small container of water,” Western Australia police said.
Conditions were harsh and temperatures had soared to 45?C, the West Australian newspaper reported.
On Tuesday morning, the woman also left the car to find help, before being picked up on Wednesday afternoon by people from another station, who later that day located the man’s body approximately 2km from Windidda.
The woman had not suffered any apparent injuries, a police spokeswoman said.
Australian police have long warned of the dangers of outback travel and strongly advise people to remain with their vehicles rather than walk for help in case of breakdown.
“Police and emergency services utilize varying types of search resources, including aircraft and vehicles,” police said. “In remote areas, it is much easier for searchers to spot a vehicle from the air, than it is a person. If people end up in this type of predicament, we advise them to try not to panic, and stay with their vehicle at all times.”
A 26-year-old German backpacker last year survived for two weeks in Australia’s harsh interior in remote Queensland on a diet of insects. He had reportedly tried to walk solo more than halfway across Australia.
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