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Stranded tourist dies in WA desert
December 13, 2003

A 35-year-old British tourist has died after trying to walk 70 kilometres through the Great Sandy Desert to find help after his car became bogged.

Marble Bar police sergeant David Hornsby said Thomas Henry Sykes from London died yesterday morning at a medical clinic in the remote Aboriginal community of Punmu, in West Australia.

Mr Sykes had been trying to drive hundreds of kilometres east towards NSW when his car became bogged.

Two motorists discovered his hired four-wheel drive on Thursday, about 70km east of Punmu, and trackers discovered footprints heading back in the direction of the community.

However, a sandstorm on Thursday night forced them to abandon their search.

Rescuers found Mr Sykes about 7am (WST) when their search resumed yesterday morning. He was still alive but in a critical condition and severely dehydrated.

He was taken to a medical clinic in Punmu but died a short time later.

Sergeant Hornsby said if Mr Sykes had stayed with his car, he would have survived.

"He would have been fine, there was enough water there for a couple of days," he said.

Mr Sykes was not equipped with a satellite phone or EPRIB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon).

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John aka NitroX

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