Police recover body of missing tourist after drowning at Edith Falls, near Katherine
Specialist divers began searching Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park, north of Katherine, at about 7am on Wednesday after reports a 57-year-old man had slipped under the water and failed to resurface the previous afternoon.
The police operation also involved specialist search and rescue officers, watercraft and underwater and overhead drones.
At about midday on Wednesday, police confirmed search and rescue officers had found the man's body.
"Police located and recovered the man's body a short time ago near one of the waterfalls," a police spokesperson said in a statement.
Police have said the man was an interstate tourist who was visiting the territory with his family.
A report into the man's death will be prepared for the coroner.
Senior Sergeant Paul Wood, who led the search and rescue operation, said the man and his family had swum about 100 metres into the lower pool at Edith Falls, towards the waterfalls, when the 57-year-old man "started to struggle".
Senior Sergeant Wood said low visibility, as well as underwater rocks and debris, had presented challenges for police searching the area.
He said parts of the water where divers were searching plunged 25 metres deep.
Both the upper and lower pools at Edith Falls, and walking tracks, are expected to remain cordoned off for the rest of Thursday.
The day-use area remains open, and campers are permitted to stay.
Chris Anwyl, who is travelling across the NT and WA, was at Edith Falls when police began their search.
He said his thoughts were with the man's family, and described the drowning as a sobering "reality check".
He had spent most of Tuesday afternoon exploring the pools, not realising anything was wrong until Wednesday morning when he saw the walking paths had been shut.
Mr Anwyl said swimming in the upper pool was beautiful that day "and it wasn't too cold that would cause you to lose your breath", however he noticed water in the lower pool was murky.
"But there was people in the water, we were going to go back for a swim a bit later on but changed our mind," he said.
"I saw a family getting in just after 4pm, and there was a couple of people swimming out further.
The incident comes during the peak of the NT's tourism season.
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