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Woman found in Australian Outback, her two friends still missing

This article is more than 12 months old

DARWIN : A woman who was stranded in the Australian Outback almost two weeks ago has been rescued, and a search continued yesterday for her two friends.

Ms Tamra McBeath-Riley, 52, was being treated in an Alice Springs hospital for dehydration and exposure after she was found late on Sunday, police superintendent Pauline Vicary said.

The air search continued yesterday for her friends Claire Hockridge, 46, and Phu Tran, 40.

The three set out from Alice Springs for an afternoon drive on Nov 19 and their car became bogged in a riverbed south-west of the town. Ms McBeath-Riley found water about 1.5km north of the car.

Ms McBeath-Riley said she and her companions found a waterhole. Her companions began trekking 20km toward a highway on Thursday, planning to avoid the desert heat, which came close to 40 deg C, by walking at night and carrying up to 7 litres of water.

Ms McBeath-Riley said she decided to stay at the waterhole with a dog that she did not think would survive a walk to the Stuart Highway, which connects Australia's north and south coasts. They did not know anyone was looking for them.

"When the helicopter found me, I thought that Claire and Phu had reached the highway. That was my immediate thought. So to find that's not the case is worrying," Ms McBeath-Riley said.

Ms Vicary said searchers had found one set of footprints.The pair had little food with them, she said.

A cattle rancher played a key role in saving the woman, telling police that he spotted tyre tracks in an area that had not been searched.

"As a result of that information, we were able to locate the vehicle and then from there they have followed some of the other tracks and have located her," Ms Vicary said. - AP

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