FLOOD DEATH PROBE

INQUEST LOOKS INTO ACTIONS OF POLICE

POLICE did not initially investigate the possibility that two men who fled from officers to avoid arrest during monsoonal floods had been washed down a storm drain.

Officers were aware of the possibility the men might have drowned, but operated on the assumption they successfully ran from police instead.

Troy Mathieson, 23, and Hughie Morton, 21, died in floodwaters after they attempted to break into a Dan Murphy’s liquor store early in the morning of February 4, 2019 during monsoonal flooding which devastated the city.

A coronial inquest began in Townsville on Tuesday probing the circumstances surrounding their deaths with the actions of police under the spotlight.