Responding to the Mumbai Polices claims that it had been kept in the dark about the death of a 28-year-old sailor from the Royal Australian Navy after his gun went off on board HMAS Toowoomba,the Australian Defence Department on Wednesday stated that since the death occurred on Australian territory,it was a matter for their authorities to handle. As the sailor died on board an Australian vessel,this incident occurred on Australian territory. As such,this is a matter for ADFIS (Australian Defence Force Investigation Service) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, an Australian Defence spokesperson stated,responding to questions in an e-mail sent by Newsline. He added,Plans are being put in place to bring the sailors body back to Australia by Royal Australian Air Force aircraft. Officers at Yellow Gate police station on Wednesday maintained that neither the Australian government nor the officers on board the ship berthed at the Indira Dock in the city after finishing a six-month tour in the waters of North Africa and the Middle East had intimated them about the death. Revealing the identity of the deceased sailor,the spokesperson stated,A Royal Australian Navy sailor,Able Seaman Boatswains Mate (ABBM) Ewan McDonald,serving in HMAS Toowoomba died while the ship was conducting a port visit to Mumbai. ABBM McDonald joined the Navy eight years ago from Victoria. The family requests that the media respect their privacy and no further personal details will be made at this time. On the manner in which the sailor died,the spokesperson said,The death is firearm-related and no one else was injured. However,the exact circumstances of the sailors death are now the subject of an ADFIS investigation. On Monday,Australias Defence Department had confirmed the death,stating the sailor was alone in his cabin when he died and that it was not yet clear whether the gunshot wound was self-inflicted or accidental. HMAS Toowoomba,an ANZAC class frigate with a crew of 190 sailors and officers,is on its way home after a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Slipper.
