British tourist rescued in Australia after writing SOS message in sand

A 63-year-old British man was saved by Australian police when he wrote an SOS message in the sand after getting lost in Queensland's Jardine National Park.

Emergency services rescued Geoff Keys after he went two days without food when he got lost while swimming near Eliot Falls in July.

The retired AA mechanic wrote on his blog that he was unable to find the waterfall.

"Instead of turning round and swimming back upstream I decided to take to the bush and cut across to the track," he wrote. "It was nearly dark. I had no shoes. What was I thinking of?"

Mr Keys found his way back to a stream which he thought was the one he had been swimming in earlier and realised around two hours later that it wasn't the same creek.

He spent the night sleeping by a waterfall and the next day, decided to write 'HELP 2807' (the date, 28 July) in the sand.

Keys spent another night alone before he was found by rescuers.

Senior Constable Foat told the Brisbane Times that the search was the trickiest to date due to the density of the bushland.

"The details were very sketchy given that the man was a lone traveller having only befriended nearby campers just days earlier."

According to the Independent, police said the rescue operation cost $800,000 (£370,000).

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