Australian Aborigines sprayed by crop-duster

September 6, 2005

A group of 19 people, including local aborigines and Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) staff, were sprayed by a crop duster in rural Australia today. They were walking the proposed route of a freeway bypass, looking for sites that may have significance to Aboriginal people.

The freeway bypass will be part of the Hume Highway, near Coolac in south-west New South Wales.

Police are yet to rule out that the dusting was deliberate. A police spokeswoman made a public appeal for information.

"We don't know whether they knew the people were there or not so we're appealing for anyone who might have witnessed the incident or knows anything about a low-flying crop-duster in the area to contact police," she said.

News available via the web does not (as of this writing) detail the effects of the spraying. It is assumed that there were no fatalities.

ABC Online reports that the pilot of the plane may face charges.