Body of boy sucked into drain found

Source: Quest Newspapers

THE body of a 17-year-old boy who went missing after being sucked into a large drainpipe at a golf course on the state?s Mid North coast overnight has been found.

A friend searching in reeds about 40 metres from the drain exit located the body at 7am.

The 17-year-old from Bonny Hills went missing about 5.30pm yesterday when a group of teenage boys were in waist-deep flood water collecting golf balls at a golf course on Kendall Road, Kew.

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Police have been told the 17 year old was suddenly pulled into a large drainpipe by the force of the water.

When two of his friends, aged 15 and 16, were trying to find him at the drainpipe entrance the 16-year-old was also sucked into the pipe.

He travelled underwater for the length of the 100 metre pipe and emerged into a dam at the other end where he was able to exit the water.

The two boys were taken by ambulance to Port Macquarie Base Hospital in a distraught state. The 16-year-old was admitted for observations with water on his lungs.

Emergency services were contacted and police from the Mid North Coast Local Area Command were joined by NSW Fire and Rescue, ambulance officers and SES officers in their search.

Further north, near Coffs Harbour, a Glenreagh mother and her five children have managed to escape rising floodwaters after cfalling the SES.

A destructive low-pressure system has been moving through the region, keeping emergency crews busy.

At least 330 millimetres of rain was dumped on some parts of the Bellinger River catchment, near Coffs Harbour, overnight.

The State Emergency Service says the river has peaked near record levels set in 1974.

Major flooding is also expected for the Orara River west of Coffs Harbour and the Hastings River near Port Macquarie.

An evacuation order has been issued for residents near Kempsey, on the Macleay River, which is expected to exceed 6.4 metres today.

Evacuation orders have already been initiated for lower parts of the Bellinger River catchment, and evacuation centres have been set up at Bellingen and Urunga. 

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