Latest news with #Townsville
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- News.com.au
Police urge public help after body discovery
A major investigation is underway after the body of a woman was discovered near railway tracks. Police said the woman was located around 9.45am on Fridsay in Townsville on Railway Ave by a member of the public, who immediately contacted emergency services. The area has been declared a crime scene and detectives are treating the death as suspicious. Detective Acting Inspector Phil Watts said investigators were still working to formally identify the woman and had not yet determined her age. Officers are urging anyone with information or dashcam footage captured between Monday, June 17, and Friday morning around Doorey St and Queens Rd to come forward. 'We're very early on in this investigation so any information from the public would be greatly appreciated,' Inspector Watts said. 'We have a number of investigation areas and (are) following up on a number of different lines of inquiry.' A forensic team remains at the scene conducting a detailed examination, which Inspector Watts said would take time to complete. 'It takes a degree of time and we're still working through that, it has to be done methodically,' he said. 'We're not ruling anything out.' While the cause of death remains unclear, police have reassured the community there is no evidence of an ongoing threat. Inspector Watts said the fact the woman was found in a public location made any information from witnesses or passers-by all the more important. 'Particularly given the case the deceased was located in a public area,' he said. Police have asked that people stay away from Railway Ave until 9pm while the forensic investigation continues. 'We will leave no stone unturned to ascertain what happened here,' Inspector Watts said. Railway Ave has been closed to all traffic, with police cordoning off the road and advising motorists to seek alternative routes. Queensland Rail has temporarily closed the rail line, although train services have not been impacted at this stage. Anyone who was travelling through the area this morning is urged to check their dashcam footage and report anything suspicious to police.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Grisly discovery on street in Townsville sparks urgent police probe
A body has been discovered on a street in Townsville, sparking an investigation. Emergency services were called to Railway Ave in Railway Estate at 9.45am on Friday. Locals have been asked to avoid the area, which has been declared a crime scene. Queensland Police said an investigation was underway. 'Railway Ave, between Doorey St and Queens Rd intersections, is closed as part of ongoing investigations,' police said in a statement. 'Members of the public and motorists are asked to avoid the area and seek an alternative route.' More to come.
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Police declare crime scene after body found on Townsville street
A crime scene has been declared after a body was found on a Townsville street this body was found on Railway Avenue in Railway Estate just before 10am. Police have closed Railway Avenue between Doorey Street and Queens Road as they investigate. Officers are appealing for anyone with dash cam footage taken in the area since Wednesday to come forward.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
Queensland dad's tragic death after life-changing crash
A beloved father has died a year after suffering life-changing injuries in a e-scooter accident, leaving his family facing the prospect of losing their home. Isaac Craig's loved ones have been left to pick up the pieces after his unexpected death from a heart attack last month. Mr Craig was seriously injured in March 2024 when he was trying out a new tyre he had put on his daughter's e-scooter in the Townsville suburb of Heatley. A driver ran through a stop sign, hitting Mr Craig – his injuries rendered him largely bed-bound for the last year of his life. Although his family don't blame the crash for his death, they say stress caused by Mr Craig's health conditions caught up with him. 'It was definitely out of the blue,' step son Callum Albert said. 'And it's a shame it happened how it did, especially in his condition. 'And obviously after the accident, he wasn't living the most fulfilled life. It was sort of a quite disappointing, sad life.' Wife Lisa Craig said before the accident her husband was 'fun loving' - an active dad and grandfather who worked as a chef. 'He loved his woodwork. He used to hang out with the grandkids,' she said. 'He loved walking the dog, (and) loved cooking.' After the incident, the family attempted to make life easier for Mr Craig by applying for support in making their traditional Queenslander home more disablility friendly. That has not been finalised by the time he died. He needed help to perform simple tasks like having a shower and lived in constant pain and discomfort. Mr Craig suffered a heart attack on May 31 and his wife made the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support a week later. Ms Craig, who worked full-time while caring for her husband, said now there was uncertainty over whether the family would be able to stay in their home as the mortgage was under his name. 'So now I've got to try and fight to keep it,' she said. House payments have been put on hold in recent days as a possible solution was being discussed. Mr Albert wrote in a GoFundMe page set up to support his mother and younger sister that Mr Craig spent most days in his room but found joy in little moments like hearing the kids arrive or conversations with loved ones. 'Watching him slowly deteriorate physically, emotionally, mentally was heartbreaking,' he said. 'I found out later that on that (on) his really bad days, he would lock his bedroom door because he didn't want my mum or his daughter to see him like that.' He said the family had been overwhelmed with the support they had received since starting the fundraiser, with community members chipping in more than $3000. They have used that money to pay for Mr Craig's funeral costs.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Greenvale was rocked by a sonic boom that shattered windows. But locals say the silence from the RAAF has been deafening
Greenvale, population 192, is best known for a Slim Dusty song about the local pub, the Three Rivers hotel. Located about 250km west of Townsville, the median age of residents is 20 years older and $1,000 poorer each week than the state median; it could be fairly characterised as a quiet, sleepy retirement community. At 10.37am on 26 June 2023, that quiet was shattered by a gigantic blast in the sky. 'I was at work at the hotel, and we just heard this massive noise, blast, boom-type thing. It was scary,' says Dinka Marovic, a Three Rivers hotel employee. 'Some ran to the gas bottle thinking that the gas bottles blew up. I thought that a semi had hit the front of the pub … we came all back together, and that's when we noticed the ceiling starting to come down.' The 'blast' was an F-35, the most advanced aircraft in the Royal Australian Air Force, breaking the sound barrier directly overhead. The shockwave in its wake shattered windows, smashed light fittings and shook roofs. But since then there's been silence from the air force, locals say. For two years phone calls have gone unanswered. Repeated complaints have resulted in no action. Unable to afford replacements – and with no local tradespeople – shattered windows are still replaced with temporary timber boards. The local MP, Robbie Katter, says the lack of response by the defence force has 'really got my back up'. 'It almost seems as though they're that remote, that no one's going to listen to them,' he said. Louise Fletcher, the owner of the Three Rivers hotel, has lived in Greenvale for 19 years. 'We actually did have CCTV footage of it, you can see our ceiling drop,' she says. 'It drops probably 15cm. And then it goes up and down.' The suspended ceiling was knocked off its clips. Only quick repairs kept it from collapsing to the ground. When the dust settled the damage appeared to be contained to about 14 homes in a straight line across town. At the time, Paula Ransom was the treasurer of the Greenvale Progress Association. She says about 21 windows were shattered, out of 133 dwellings in the area. In the years since, some homes have started to leak. She is in no doubt that the huge boom was caused by a supersonic jet. The sound is different, she says: you'll hear an ordinary plane coming, but this one didn't crescendo or decrescendo – it was suddenly loud and then instantly over, like an extremely loud gunshot. 'I lived in Townsville when the jets first came to the RAAF base in Townsville,' she says. 'In the 70s and the 80s, the boys all wanted to play games with their jets. 'It was a definite boom.' One resident says the noise caused her such a shock she called for medical help. 'I went close to a second heart attack,' she said. 'It was bloody terrifying.' Ray Smith said the jet came over 'hard and fast and low'. 'The whole houses shook,' he said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Smith had a window shatter and another damaged. He's left a hole where the damaged one used to be because he can't afford to replace it. A spokesperson for the Department of Defence said the episode occurred in the Townsville restricted airspace 'within an area where overland supersonic airspeeds are approved'. 'Defence received eight noise complaints and reports of property damage, with three of these complaints referred for compensation,' the spokesperson said. 'The Department is committed to working with communities that are impacted by Defence operations, including compensation where liability is evident. 'Where possible, air force avoids known noise sensitive areas, townships and other areas of significant activity; however, the conduct of flying operations is vital for Defence preparedness. Air force operates under control measures to minimise the impact of aircraft activity on local residents where reasonably practicable.' A sonic boom is caused when an object breaks the sound barrier – travelling faster than the speed of sound. The speeding jet aircraft carries a wave of sound behind it like a wake, which breaks on a relatively narrow 'carpet' of ground after it passes over. It's so loud it can even be used as a weapon; a high-speed pass designed to intimidate or suppress rather than kill. It's for this reason that supersonic flight over land has been banned in the US since 1973. Peter Carter from Carter Capner Law says there is no similar legislation prohibiting supersonic flight in Australia, even over a major city like Sydney or Melbourne. But he says Defence could be sued for causing building damage through a civil action 'and there is no liability exemption unless the aircraft was engaged in active military operation which necessitated that flight path'. If flying over Greenvale was an operational necessity, it should have been done at an altitude well above the risk of damage to the ground, he says. Ransom estimates that she contacted the defence force to demand an explanation within weeks. Two more complaints have led nowhere. Katter describes the defence force response as 'indifference at best'. 'Maybe I'm paranoid, but I can't be blamed for thinking that they've taken advantage of the fact that these are people without means that aren't often heard.' Ransom says nobody is wealthy enough to book tradespeople to drive out from Townsville or Charters Towers. The matter simply would not be swept under the carpet in a big city, she says, where a sonic boom would leave thousands windowless. 'You would not get away with it,' she says. 'This is a small town of a couple of hundred people at the most where we do tend to have a lot of the outback attitude of 'she'll be right, mate'. But this, this won't be right.' Watch TenNewsFirst at 5pm to see the residents of Greenvale tell their story.
