Vic: Police scale down search for man missing on Lake Eildon

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2000
Vic: Police scale down search for man missing on Lake Eildon

MELBOURNE, Dec 4 AAP - Police today scaled down a search for a man who fell overboard
when his speedboat capsized on Lake Eildon in central Victoria on Saturday.

A local State Emergency Service (SES) boat would today search a 500m square area on
the lake in a bid to find an oil slick which may help find the submerged boat, a police
spokesman said.

Later in the week police may use a sonar to test the water ahead of sending in divers, he said.

But the full-scale search was called off yesterday after water police and local officers
found no trace of the man, who is from Melbourne's east.

A Search and Rescue Squad spokesman said earlier today that the lake was hazardous
for divers due to snags and its depth of 36 metres.

The 34-year-old missing man, his wife, 31, and their sons, aged five and seven, were
thrown into the water when their boat capsized at about 3.30pm on Saturday.

Nearby boats rescued the woman, who suffered facial injuries, and the boys, who were
unhurt, but the man was not seen.

A search for the man began immediately.

AAP st/imc/mjm/br

KEYWORD: SPEEDBOAT LEAD

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