A traveller is in a critical but stable condition in hospital with burns to most of his body after slipping and falling into a hot artesian bore on the Birdsville Track.
The man, aged between 50 and 60, had been travelling in a convoy of six four-wheel drives which stopped just north of Mungerannie, about 800 kilometres north of Adelaide.
He was treated at the Mungerannie Hotel while a plane that was already in the air was diverted to the scene.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) said the man from Adelaide suffered second-degree burns to more than 80% of his body. Paramedics spent several hours stabilising the man before he was flown to the burns unit of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
RFDS Central Operations general manager of marketing, Charlie Paterson, said the man’s injuries had been minimised by the quick thinking of those nearby.
“Our crews have reported that their immediate response was text book and will minimise his long-term injuries,” Mr Paterson said. “They withdrew the man immediately, they took all his clothes off because that was holding the heat into his body and then they poured cold water all over him and got his body temperature down as quickly as possible.”
The ABC reports that there are several hot bores around Mungerannie, with the one in question about 30 kilometres north of the homestead. Hot springs reach temperatures of up to 90C.
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