This story cleared the wires just a minute ago. It takes a lot to affect these cynical journalists, but this has shaken the newsroom more than any death I can recall. By that I mean, at least they aren't joking about it.
SYDNEY, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Steve Irwin, the quirky Australian naturalist who won worldwide acclaim, has died in a marine accident off Australia's northeast coast, local media reported on Monday. Sky Television reported that Irwin, whose television show "The Crocodile Hunter" won international acclaim and popularised the phrase "Crikey", had been stung by a sting ray.
Australian emergency officials could not immediately confirm the reports.
SYDNEY, Sept 4, 2006 (AFP) - World-renowned "crocodile hunter" and television environmentalist Steve Irwin has died following a stingray attack in northeastern Australia, local government sources said Monday. Irwin, 44, known for his enthusiastic approach to even the deadliest of wildlife, was killed when a stingray barb punctured his chest during the filming and underwater documentary, the sources quoted by the Australian Associated Press said.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- Steve Irwin, the Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday by a stingray barb during a diving expedition, media reports said.
Irwin, 44, was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queesland state when the accident occurred, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site. The paper and other Australian media reporting the death cited police or state government sources.
Telephone calls to Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, were not immediately answered.
12 comments:
This is TERRIBLE!
He was truly one of my heros.
Wonder how long Discovery will wait before they try to find a replacement for him?
Or what I would have to do to get the job?
Immagine the guy that his wife would ever be interested in after him!
Holey Moley!
There are conflicting reports about his wife. One source says the family has been notified, while another says she's off trekking in Tasmania and hasn't been told yet.
Well, I'd certainly hate to know that I found out about it before she did...
Such is the nature of communications. He was a multi-millionaire, so his family is well off. Poor little Bindy, the daughter. She kept saying that one day that zoo would belong to her. She wouldn't have wanted it this way.
Well, he cheated the Grim Reaper once too often. He made his name by taking ridiculous risks with dangerous animals. It paid off for awhile, but not in the end. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. God Bless his Soul.
He did more for Australia than Crocodile Dundee...The irony is he was able to be around these deadly creatures in way that no one else could and never get hurt and then in the end it was a stingray which they say shouldn't have killed him...did...to have so much luck and talent and then to have it snuffed out...what are your chances to have a stingray pierce your heart???
This is a great loss. He was very entertaining with his daring adventures into wildlife. He will be missed by many. (It just goes to show that when you take your life in your hands on a daily basis, sooner or later...)
God bless his soul and may he rest in peace.
I always knew this would be the way he went. But not in a freak accident like this. It breaks my heart to think about his wife and children.
Steve had such a great sense of humor and apparently no fear. Bet he said "oops!" when he got stung and realized this was it.
Hope he knew the Lord. If he did, Jesus was probably shaking His head and rolling his eyes at Steve when he got to the pearly gates...probably was grinning too.
I don't think he took any more risks than a police officer or a fire fighter or a man married to a Filipina. It was just a freak accident. It's like that woman who was killed while riding through Boston's Big Dig. Why did that ceiling fall at just that moment?
It's a shame that he has passed. He always seemed genuine and sincere and character of that sort is in very short supply on televison. . or anywhere for that matter.
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