Big_unit
02-11-2006, 12:44 PM
It started out as an ordinary fishing trip with five men. It ended with three of them presumed dead and a reminder of how alcohol and violence is destroying Aboriginal Australia.
On Wednesday last week, Keith Woody, Mark Alimankinni, Solomon Nawuba, Fidelis Tipiloura, and Mark Puautjimi, left in a dinghy to fish the waters between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands. They made several fatal mistakes.
Firstly, they took no lifejackets. Secondly, they took a carton of beer each and proceeded to drink at a rapid rate.
Around eight o'clock that night, their boat capsized in the rough conditions about 90 metres from the beach. Alimankinni and Puautjimi managed to swim through crocodile, shark and box jellyfish infested waters to safety. Despite a massive air and sea search, Woody, Tipiloura and Nawuba haven’t been seen since.
How these events unfolded is almost as disturbing as the thought of the nine children who have lost their fathers. After recuperating in hospital, survivor Mark Alimankinni told a story of drinking, violence, and three lives unnecessarily lost.
Like many aborigines, he spoke quietly and shyly with minimal eye contact. But his confronting honesty highlighted how many of his people continue to pay the ultimate price for alcohol abuse.
In high winds and almost two metre swells, Alimankinni says their dinghy was being flooded with water. The skipper of the boat, Keith Woody, told him to unscrew the bungs and drain the water. Alimankinni says he did this.
He claims the skipper was meant to remind him when to drain the boat for the second time, but says Woody forgot. He also said Woody, Tipiloura and Nawuba had drunk almost a carton of beer each, and that he and Puautjimi had also been drinking.
With the boat rapidly taking on water, Alimankinni says he reached for some flares, but never made it because Woody punched him in the face.
"He (Woody) sort of blamed me for the water that came in. He came and whacked me across the right cheek. I had to hit him back because I felt pain when he hit me."
The ensuing fight caused the boat to overturn, plunging the men into the ocean. Alimankinni and Puautjimi started swimming towards a lighthouse on the shore. The others were so drunk, he said, they were unable to swim and opted to stay with the boat.
Alimankinni and Puautjimi slept the night in some mangroves and were rescued the next morning, while several days later their boat was found washed up on a reef.
There were no signs of life and the search for the three remaining fishermen was later called off.
Many from the men's community of Nguiu are holding to a slim hope the trio may have survived, however police say it looks increasingly likely they perished in the unforgiving Territory wilderness.
While it remains open to speculation whether lifejackets would have saved the three men, it appears almost certain a clear head could have. The boat had several jerry cans the men could have used to help them stay afloat, and Woody and Tipiloura were strong swimmers. It is reasonable to presume that if sober, they could have swum to safety.
Instead, it seems alcohol has claimed three more indigenous lives.
On Wednesday last week, Keith Woody, Mark Alimankinni, Solomon Nawuba, Fidelis Tipiloura, and Mark Puautjimi, left in a dinghy to fish the waters between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands. They made several fatal mistakes.
Firstly, they took no lifejackets. Secondly, they took a carton of beer each and proceeded to drink at a rapid rate.
Around eight o'clock that night, their boat capsized in the rough conditions about 90 metres from the beach. Alimankinni and Puautjimi managed to swim through crocodile, shark and box jellyfish infested waters to safety. Despite a massive air and sea search, Woody, Tipiloura and Nawuba haven’t been seen since.
How these events unfolded is almost as disturbing as the thought of the nine children who have lost their fathers. After recuperating in hospital, survivor Mark Alimankinni told a story of drinking, violence, and three lives unnecessarily lost.
Like many aborigines, he spoke quietly and shyly with minimal eye contact. But his confronting honesty highlighted how many of his people continue to pay the ultimate price for alcohol abuse.
In high winds and almost two metre swells, Alimankinni says their dinghy was being flooded with water. The skipper of the boat, Keith Woody, told him to unscrew the bungs and drain the water. Alimankinni says he did this.
He claims the skipper was meant to remind him when to drain the boat for the second time, but says Woody forgot. He also said Woody, Tipiloura and Nawuba had drunk almost a carton of beer each, and that he and Puautjimi had also been drinking.
With the boat rapidly taking on water, Alimankinni says he reached for some flares, but never made it because Woody punched him in the face.
"He (Woody) sort of blamed me for the water that came in. He came and whacked me across the right cheek. I had to hit him back because I felt pain when he hit me."
The ensuing fight caused the boat to overturn, plunging the men into the ocean. Alimankinni and Puautjimi started swimming towards a lighthouse on the shore. The others were so drunk, he said, they were unable to swim and opted to stay with the boat.
Alimankinni and Puautjimi slept the night in some mangroves and were rescued the next morning, while several days later their boat was found washed up on a reef.
There were no signs of life and the search for the three remaining fishermen was later called off.
Many from the men's community of Nguiu are holding to a slim hope the trio may have survived, however police say it looks increasingly likely they perished in the unforgiving Territory wilderness.
While it remains open to speculation whether lifejackets would have saved the three men, it appears almost certain a clear head could have. The boat had several jerry cans the men could have used to help them stay afloat, and Woody and Tipiloura were strong swimmers. It is reasonable to presume that if sober, they could have swum to safety.
Instead, it seems alcohol has claimed three more indigenous lives.