By Clare Rawlinson
Updated
A 45-year-old Canberra woman who died on Thursday when she was trapped in a sinking houseboat, south of Darwin, has been named.
Toni Forder was one of 12 people on two houseboats that were moored together on Corroboree Billabong on the Mary River when they were hit by freak winds on Thursday afternoon.
One of the houseboats tipped over and began to sink.
Most people on the houseboat were on deck but Ms Forder was trapped inside and there were a number of crocodiles nearby.
Police say friends from the second houseboat jumped into the crocodile-infested river to help the woman, who was unconscious when she was pulled from the water.
The friends performed CPR while taking her to a nearby boat ramp in a tinny.
She died despite efforts to revive her.
A second woman was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital with minor injuries but was released a short time later after treatment.
NT Police watch commander Superintendant Louise Jorgensen says an investigation of the incident is continuing today and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
"It was an absolutely horrible, tragic situation and it was exacerbated by the weather and that there were a fair few crocodiles around," she said.
Most of the people on the houseboats were from Palmerston, near Darwin.
Hired houseboat tours on the picturesque Mary River, about 90 kilometres south of Darwin, are popular among visitors to the Territory and locals alike.
The operator of Mary River Houseboats, John Morton, says a group of fishermen were close by when the houseboat overturned and immediately went to help rescue people from the water.
"[They] put the woman in their dinghy and headed straight back to the boat ramp, but you have got to realise that it is 30 kilometres [away] and it takes a fair while," he said.
"I could see them trying to resuscitate the lady in the dinghy at the boat ramp."
Mr Morton says the houseboats have been operating for 25 years and he has never seen anything like it.
"My understanding, the only explanation I can give, is there was a huge force on the side of the boat," he said.
"It must have been huge because it tipped the boat over sideways."
Topics: accidents, darwin-0800, canberra-2600
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