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Speaker 1: But as I mentioned just a little while ago, the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory Police so that they responded to reports of

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Speaker 1: a vessel fire off the coast of Darwen. On Friday

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Speaker 1: about four twenty in the afternoon, police received reports of

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Speaker 1: a passenger ferry traveling between Darwin and Twe Islands reportedly

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Speaker 1: experiencing a fire on board. Now the Fairy is believed

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Speaker 1: to have had about one hundred and eighty passengers and

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Speaker 1: four crew on board. Now joining me on the line

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Speaker 1: is one of those passengers. Tasman, Tasman Pitts Hill. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you Tasman.

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Speaker 2: Morning Katie Mate.

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Speaker 3: What happened on Friday? Arevo?

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Speaker 2: Oh what a confronting and traumatic ordeal. It was specifically

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Speaker 2: for my daughter, but many other passengers on board as well.

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Speaker 3: What happened mate?

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Speaker 4: Wow?

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Speaker 2: We'd left Tivi Islands as per the plan yep, about

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Speaker 2: three fifteen. I think we left and as you can imagine,

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Speaker 2: the boat was full of people, my wife, three children,

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Speaker 2: my parents are there, dog and we weren't far into

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Speaker 2: the trip and we hear this bang and the boat

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Speaker 2: just comes to a complete hole. There's smoke, flames from

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Speaker 2: the back starboard side. I think it is on the

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Speaker 2: back of the boat, and of course everyone's just screaming.

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Speaker 2: The fire fire fine, there's smoke starting to fill the cabin.

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Speaker 2: There's people running frantically in and out of the back

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Speaker 2: doors of the boat, and my step mum was sitting

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Speaker 2: there at the time with the dog and they just

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Speaker 2: got trampled just through sheer panic of people running everywhere.

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Speaker 2: One of the crewmen come running into the main part

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Speaker 2: of the boat where most of the people were sitting

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Speaker 2: and had his t shirt like pulled over his face,

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Speaker 2: covering his mouth and nose, coughing and everything, screaming. Everyone

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Speaker 2: get to the other side of the boat, and of

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Speaker 2: course there's heaps of elderly on the boat and stuff

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Speaker 2: that came quickly, and the smell like you couldn't breathe.

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Speaker 2: Probably everyone was coughing and spluttering. It just filled everything

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Speaker 2: up really quickly, and then of course firearms going off

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Speaker 2: like it just happened, like click of the fingers. It

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Speaker 2: was all on.

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Speaker 1: Mate. Were you worried that the boat was going to

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Speaker 1: sink or what were you thinking at this point?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Of course when they said that, because it's a

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Speaker 2: camera and I thought maybe they're trying to get the

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Speaker 2: other side of the boat out of the water to

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Speaker 2: try and float on one hull or something. I'm not

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Speaker 2: really sure, but when we were straight away, I said, no,

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Speaker 2: we're not staying in this cabin, my wife and daughter

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Speaker 2: that were with me, and so we legged out the

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Speaker 2: front of the boat and climbed onto the roof to

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Speaker 2: try and get away from the smoke, sort of save

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Speaker 2: yourself sort of situation. So yeah, it was, Yeah, it

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Speaker 2: was really really traumatic. My daughter was is shaking, and

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Speaker 2: imagine a lot of other people were as well. You

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Speaker 2: could visibly see everyone was shaken. There's a lot of

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Speaker 2: coughing and nausey all that sort of thing going on

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Speaker 2: there Tasmin.

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Speaker 1: We're told it was around one hundred and eighty passengers

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Speaker 1: on board, Is that right?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. It was chockers, absolutely chockers.

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Speaker 1: And you were coming were you coming back from Teewee

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Speaker 1: back to Darwin?

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Speaker 3: Is that correct?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Oh goodness mate. So what happened next? Like how

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Speaker 3: long did it.

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Speaker 1: Take for somebody to you know, to get the fire

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Speaker 1: under control or for somebody to come out and what

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Speaker 1: was the like what was the panic like from passengers?

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Speaker 4: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, real panics like just that whole uncertainty and lack

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Speaker 2: of direction. I suppose that you know, like life jackets

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Speaker 2: went passed out or anything like that. It was that's

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Speaker 2: if anyone even knew where they were, and just all

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Speaker 2: huddling like shoulder to should on such a small little

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Speaker 2: bit of boat. There was a rear and at the

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Speaker 2: on the top of the boat and at the front

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Speaker 2: of the boat. But finally the captain got on the

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Speaker 2: speed so that the fire was under control. There'd been

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Speaker 2: an engine fire, it was under control, and I think

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Speaker 2: they used like a suppression stuff. I'm not exactly sure

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Speaker 2: what it is to kill the fire, but of course

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Speaker 2: that's got its toxic smell in nature as well, there's

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Speaker 2: just these like you couldn't breathe around it.

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Speaker 1: So holy Molly, Now what happens sort of next in

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Speaker 1: terms of were you able to get all the way

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Speaker 1: to Darwin or did you have to be rescued?

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Speaker 3: What happened?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, again there was a whole lot of uncertainty

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Speaker 2: on what was happening next. We weren't told next to

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Speaker 2: next to nothing really, but so they dropped the anchor.

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Speaker 2: They left I think generator running on board, so that

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Speaker 2: airk on or something could continue to run, but there

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Speaker 2: was no real knowing who was coming to rescue us.

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Speaker 2: At one point I said the Navy was coming an

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Speaker 2: hour upon our, upon our, upon how it just went by.

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Speaker 2: So eight hours later, roughly nine hours later, another ceiling

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Speaker 2: boat pulled up and then they said to us, you

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Speaker 2: can't take anything with you, though, because this boat will

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Speaker 2: be overloaded as it is. And I thought, oh, I

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Speaker 2: don't even know if I want to get onto that boat.

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Speaker 2: Littlelone be on this one any longer.

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Speaker 3: So what did you do?

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Speaker 2: Well, we all ended up going across that's In fact,

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Speaker 2: that was the first time we will put life jackets

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Speaker 2: on and just to cross the gangway there to get

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Speaker 2: onto the other boat. And we just everyone just piled

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Speaker 2: onto that boat and we made it back into Darwin

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Speaker 2: at about a quarter past eleven that night. So it

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Speaker 2: was it was a huge day.

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Speaker 3: Oh mate, are you all right? Is your family okay?

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Speaker 3: Is your dog all right?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Mostly, However, the following day it was as if

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Speaker 2: we'd had a big night, you know, like we everyone was.

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Speaker 2: Naise had no headaches, migraines quite like a dry cough,

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Speaker 2: and you can only put that down to what we'd breathed,

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Speaker 2: what we'd all breed them. Yeah, such a confined space,

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Speaker 2: so overall I think would be alright, but yeah, long

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Speaker 2: term effects, you'd never really know something like that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, I'm keen to ask and feel for

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Speaker 1: If you don't want to disclose this, that's totally fine.

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Speaker 1: But do you guys live over on Teewee or do

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Speaker 1: you live in town? And what's it going to mean,

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Speaker 1: like in terms of taking that troop again, are you

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Speaker 1: going to sort.

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Speaker 3: Of going to be harder?

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Speaker 2: To be perfectly frank, Katie, I won't be getting on

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Speaker 2: another ceiling. Yeah right, I'm just I wasn't assured at

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Speaker 2: any stage that there was everything was under control. I

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Speaker 2: didn't believe that it was.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, look we'll try and seek comment from them,

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Speaker 1: you know, as to their reaction, and you know how

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Speaker 1: they're going to to respond I suppose as well, So

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Speaker 1: we'll do our best to do that. I mean to

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Speaker 1: go back to that, to that other question like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: are you do you need to or are you going

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Speaker 1: to need to do that trip again?

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Speaker 3: And what will you what are you going to do?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's that's the thing. I've got the monopoly

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Speaker 2: and travel across it unless you've got a private vessel

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Speaker 2: of your own. But we we were just visiting twa

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Speaker 2: for the day. We live in Darwin and just sort

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Speaker 2: of nice to pop over there and got friends and stuff.

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Speaker 1: There, and then you feel for the locals, you know,

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Speaker 1: like like you said, that's your transport here and there,

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Speaker 1: and you'd be I'd be quite trawn tie st after

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Speaker 1: something like that had happened. I don't know if you'd

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Speaker 1: be able to get me back on a bush in.

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Speaker 4: A hurry, that's right, Yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah, yeah, well

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Speaker 4: exactly that amatic and sort of like lack of direction

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Speaker 4: and not knowing.

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Speaker 2: And all of those sorts of things is just what

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Speaker 2: would make it and just never get on one of

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Speaker 2: them again.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Tasman.

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Speaker 1: Look, I'm gonna have to leave it there because we've

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Speaker 1: got a head across and catch up with the counsel

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Speaker 1: of the aging. But I'm just going to pop you

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Speaker 1: on hold because I know the other media are keen

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Speaker 1: to talk to you as well, So I'm just gonna

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Speaker 1: pop you on hold and Crystal have a quick yarn

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Speaker 1: to you, mate, pass on my will wishes to your family.

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Speaker 3: I hope that you are Okay.

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Speaker 1: To everybody that was on that boat, I feel for

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Speaker 1: you and I really hope that you're all okay.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks so much, Katie

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Speaker 3: Thanks Mate, I appreciate it.