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Rescuers are desperately searching a popular waterway for an unknown number of people missing after a horror collision between a catamaran and a tinnie left two more men injured.
Police responded to reports of a boating accident in Runaway Bay, a northern Gold Coast suburb, about 4.45am on Friday.
A member of the public reported the incident after their 12m catamaran was struck by an out-of-control tinnie that had earlier hit a channel marker on Broadwater in Southport.
Two men were treated by emergency workers, one aged 34 and the other 36, and paramedics subsequently placed the younger man in an induced coma.
The 36-year-old swam from the water to Paradise Point before both men were assessed. injuries to arms and legs and taken to Gold Coast University Hospital.
Emergency crews were called to Runaway Bay, a northern Gold Coast suburb, after reports a tinnie had crashed.
When paramedics arrived, they found two injured men in their 30s; Both were rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital with injuries to their arms and legs.
Gold Coast Water Police Senior Sergeant Peter Venz said emergency crews were actively searching for the missing.
“One person, possibly three, has been ejected into the water,” said Senior Sergeant Venz.
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“A fourth person was seriously injured and trapped on the boat in a position where he could not move.”
Rescuers found the man trapped near his seat and said he had suffered extensive blood loss.
The skipper of the catamaran, David Crossley, he told the courier email that he and his wife woke up to the sound of tinnie hitting their boat, called Sea Pup.
He said the smaller ship was “accelerating like crazy” after its initial collision in the channel and was now spinning in circles near his anchored ship.
“It crashed into the boat and I ran on deck and this thing was going around and around in circles,” Mr Crossley said.
‘He didn’t come back, he looked towards the ship behind us. Then, suddenly, everything was silent.’
Crossley said he could hear a voice from the boat calling for help before seeing the injured 36-year-old man “smashed” aboard the tinnie.
Crossley was able to lower his boat into the water and reach into the tinnie to shut off the engine before helping the injured man.
He towed the tinnie 50 meters to shore on South Stradbroke Island before calling authorities to report the accident.
The tinnie had initially collided with a channel marker before veering off and hitting David Crossley’s 12 meter catamaran (file image)
Crossley (pictured) rescued a 34-year-old man still on board the drifting tinnie before towing the boat 50 meters to South Stradbroke Island.
Crossley said the injured man had probably broken his arm and leg and was “semi-conscious and severely concussed, repeating itself over and over again.
The man was treated at the scene before being rushed to hospital and placed in an induced coma.
Senior Sergeant Venz said investigations were still ongoing and police were treating the event as a missing persons incident.
Crossley said that before paramedics took the 36-year-old away, he had been asking about the three other people who were also allegedly on board the tinnie.
Rescuers are still searching for the other two men who they believe were involved in the accident and who may still be somewhere in or around the waterway.
Its operation includes both civilian and emergency vehicles.
Families are helping park rangers navigate the South Stradbroke Island Area and Assets have been sent from Brisbane to assist in the search for water.
Master Sergeant Venz has also asked sailors to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.
‘The Coast Guard and VMR are speaking on Channel 7, 3 and 16 alerting all boaters to be aware that we have a marine incident with possible people in the water,’ he said.
Rescuers are still searching for two men who they believe were in the tinnie but are still missing.