Horizontal Falls accident: 12 patients aged between 46 and 70 all stable at Royal Perth Hospital

A dozen tourists injured at Kimberley’s famous Horizontal Falls after a sight-seeing trip went horribly wrong on Friday are all in a stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital on Saturday morning. The 12 people — seven women and five men — were flown to Perth overnight on three flights before being taken to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment. They are aged between 46 and 70. The West Australian has confirmed they are all in a stable condition. None of them are in intensive care. However, nine are receiving treatment in the hospital’s trauma ward. The most seriously injured arrived in Perth via the Royal Flying Doctor Service just after 8pm on Friday. Two men walked out the plane, one with a bandage on his head and around his legs, while three women were ferried off on stretches. The women were loaded into a large ambulance, which is believed to have been used to transport COVID patients from infected cruise ships during the pandemic. Two later flights — one about 10pm and another early on Saturday — also had patients on stretchers, while others were able to walk off the planes in Perth. The Falls Express, operated by Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, was conducting a tour of the natural wonder in Talbot Bay, about 250km north-east of Broome, when it ran into trouble with 26 passengers and two crew on board about 7am on Friday. The hazardous attraction, popular with thrill-seekers, features two narrow, sheer rock gorges on the bay that transform into rapids when water is forced through them with the changing tides. WA Police Regional WA Commander Brad Sorrell said while the circumstances leading up to the incident were still under investigation, several people had been thrown into the water. In a statement on Friday, tour operator Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures said Falls Express was guided by an experienced skipper when the vessel came into trouble while travelling through the falls. “The vessel immediately returned to the pontoon,” the statement said. “We are continuing to liaise with the RFDS and emergency services to manage the incident.” Horizontal Falls attracts tourists from all over the world, with its swift tidal currents squeezing between two narrow gorges in what Sir David Attenborough once labelled “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”. The iconic falls, known for their fast-moving tides, play host to frequent jet boat tours.

Horizontal Falls accident: 12 patients aged between 46 and 70 all stable at Royal Perth Hospital

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