SYDNEY: A desperate fisherman threw spanners and spark plugs to fight off circling crocodiles after his friend drowned when one of the animals capsized their small boat, reports said Wednesday.
The holidaymakers were pulling in crab pots Tuesday in Leaders Creek, 38 kilometers northeast of Darwin, when their boat was nudged by a saltwater croc, tipping it over.
The men tried to get back on board but it flipped again, trapping one of them underneath, drowning him, the Northern Territory News said.
The survivor, 72, told rescuers he tried to pull the boat to shore before getting stuck waist-deep in mud with three or four crocodiles circling him.
“He was using spanners and spark plugs to hold them at bay,” said Ian Badham from CareFlight, an Australian aeromedical charity which flew him to a Darwin hospital.
He managed to make it into nearby mangroves and spent three hours there before some fellow crabbers heard his cries for help.
The holidaymakers were pulling in crab pots Tuesday in Leaders Creek, 38 kilometers northeast of Darwin, when their boat was nudged by a saltwater croc, tipping it over.
The men tried to get back on board but it flipped again, trapping one of them underneath, drowning him, the Northern Territory News said.
The survivor, 72, told rescuers he tried to pull the boat to shore before getting stuck waist-deep in mud with three or four crocodiles circling him.
“He was using spanners and spark plugs to hold them at bay,” said Ian Badham from CareFlight, an Australian aeromedical charity which flew him to a Darwin hospital.
He managed to make it into nearby mangroves and spent three hours there before some fellow crabbers heard his cries for help.
