Bodies Recovered After Car Plunges Into Flood-Swollen NSW River

Police divers recovered two bodies from the Macdonald River near Wisemans Ferry, New South Wales, after a car left the road and plunged into the flood-swollen waterway late Wednesday. The victims, understood to be a father and son, had been missing since the crash, which occurred about 11:50 p.m. when the vehicle struck a tree before veering into the river. A 24-year-old passenger managed to escape the sinking car and reached the riverbank where he was assessed by paramedics and released without hospital treatment. NSW Police divers found the submerged vehicle around 11:20 a.m. Thursday and located the bodies soon afterwards. Formal identification is pending, and investigators have appealed for witnesses to contact Hawkesbury Police or Crime Stoppers. Search and recovery efforts were complicated by severe weather that has drenched Australia’s east coast. Sydney recorded roughly 700 millimetres of rain in 24 hours, prompting widespread flood warnings and straining emergency services across the region.