Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin dies
Environmentalist, 44, killed by stingray on diving expedition
Steve Irwin, right, and his wife Terri with a giant Galapagos land tortoise at the Australia Zoo.
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Australia Zoo via AP file
Updated: 3:30 a.m. ET Sept. 4, 2006
CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was killed by a stingray barb to the heart on Batt Reef, off the remote resort town of Port Douglas in northeastern Queensland state, his wildlife park Australia Zoo said in a statement.
Crew members aboard Irwin’s boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead a short time later, the statement said.
GOD BLESS YA STEVIE ...