Updated 10th August 2001

Death of a drainer.

While other drownings have occurred in the City's drains, the death of 'Bob' in December 2000 was the first time an experienced drainer died in a drain. According to the Coroner's report, alcohol was a major contributing factor in the death. Bob had been drinking heavily prior to his death.

According to the media and witnesses, Bob and his good friend Ben visited a drain in the afternoon of Friday the 22nd of December. The weather that day was very hot, so they probably entered the drain to escape the heat. Weather forecasts however were for storms following a cool break in the late afternoon. The sky was covered in cloud most of the afternoon. The threat of rain kept a third explorer from joining the pair.

The pair dragged a foam mattress up into the Pillars chamber of the drain, folding it into a home made couch an placing it under one of the vents of the drain. They used the foam couch to rest and play on for a while. The vent, a small grille type manhole provided light and fresh air. Yet as the manhole was rusted shut, it was not a means of exit.

I remember myself on that day considering going down to a drain to escape the heat, but the huge storm clouds over the city and the weather forecast were warning to stay out of drains.

As the afternoon wore on, the forecast thunderstorms approached UA City from the north. The drain runs almost due north from it's entrance, where the pair were playing. The upper end of the drain consists of a huge rectangular concrete drain about five metres wide, and two metres high. This massive tunnel can cater for a large flow of water. Yet a few hundred metres from the entrance to this drain, the tunnel is constricted into two smaller tunnels which feed into the Pillars chamber where Bob and Ben were playing. From here, it feeds into two even smaller drains, a small rectangular one, and a smaller round concrete pipe. It was the round concrete pipe where the pair had placed their foam mattress.

It is unknown why Bob and Ben did not notice the signs of the approaching flash flood. It is possible that due to the large size of the upper ends of the drain, it had the capacity to quietly carry the water.

As can be seen, the drain entrance itself is quite small,
consisting of a 1.6 metre RCP and a 1.8 metre wide rectangular drain

The upper end of the drain is really quite large compared to the small entrance of it.
It is a 5 metre wide and 1.8 metre high drain.

Media reports:

According to media reports, Bob and his friend Ben hung on to an overhead grille as the water washed their make shift couch away from beneath them. Bob was not able to hold as long as Ben. He dropped into the rushing water and was swept away. Ben held on a few minutes more before he was also swept away down the drain.

The pair had been visiting the drain for a while, yet seemed unaware of the dangers of flash flooding, even though they had tagged over warning signs in the area and possibly warned by other drainers.

The media reports have been edited to remove location details of the drain in question.

Reports by the media.

The day the boy went missing - 190Kb
The day the boy went missing - 148Kb

The day after the boy went missing - 193Kb

Report after the death. From Page 1 - 53Kb, From Page 4 - 119Kb, Image from article - 87Kb

Or read them on this web page

Evocative images

These are not intended to offend. They are, in effect, a sort of memorial.

Bob's backpack remains where it was dropped after the police caravan moved from the site

Flowers left by fellow drainers

Flowers left by friends and relatives

Flowers left by Acorn and Gorgee

The card reads: "Dear Mate. I won't forget you. Groove on. From ....... "
I can't make out who left them.