Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was recovered from a billabong near the Kakadu Highway last night.

Police received a report just after 7pm last night that a man had gone for a swim in the Malanbanjbanjdju Billabong and failed to surface. The billabong is approximately 16 kilometres from the Arnhem Highway and Kakadu Highway intersection. The man - a 27-year-old Irish National - was with a group of about 20 backpackers. He is believed to have been the only one of the group to go swimming.

Police and National Park Rangers travelled to the scene when the alarm was raised and mounted a search for the man. Just after 10pm National Park Rangers located the body in approximately two metres of water near where the man was last seen

It appears the man got into difficulties and drowned however an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death



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Theresa Kuilboer
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