Female tourists violently assaulted on Australian beach

Two female backpackers from Europe were savagely attacked on a remote Australian beach by a travelling companion they had met hours earlier, police said.

A 59-year-old Australian man was charged with a string of offences, including attempted murder and unlawful sexual intercourse following the attack that left both women, aged in their 20s, in hospital.

It was reported that one of the backpackers told her rescuers that one of them was hit over the head with a hammer during their ordeal, while the other was driven over in a vehicle.

At least one of the women was believed to have been tied up. The court suppressed the man’s name and police have not revealed the women’s nationalities to protect their identities.

The women had met their alleged attacker on Tuesday and had driven with him in his four-wheel drive vehicle 160km from the South Australia state capital Adelaide to Tea Tree Point beach in the Coorong National Park, where they set up camp for the night, Police Superintendent James Blandford said.

The Adelaide man allegedly attacked both women with a hammer at the camp site before one managed to flee naked from the scene.

“One of the victims was able to run away and came across some people who were fishing in the area and they were able to comfort and secure her and make phone calls to police,” Supt Blandford told reporters.

One of those men who found her, Abdul-Karim Mohammed, said the scene was upsetting, with the woman screaming and crying.

“She ran straight to the car yelling,” said Mr Mohammed.

“She opened the back door, jumped straight in and like: ‘Get me out of here, get me out of here. He’s going to kill us all.’

“She had some scratches and that on the legs. Looked like she’d been pulled around, dragged around and that.”

Police were called and arrested the alleged attacker in the national park.

7News reported that the man’s Facebook page showed him posing with a gun, and documented other trips to Salt Creek.

He also operated several Facebook pages and had a profile on a dating website, which said he was searching for a new wife, and wanted to meet girls aged 22 to 56 for dating, friendship and serious relationships, Adelaide’s Advertiser reports.

His dating profile said he was “respectful to women and gets along with everyone, well almost”, and wanted his potential partner to be able to cook Chinese food, love kids, be well presented, slender, athletic, respectful and honest.

The fishermen worked with police to help catch the alleged attacker, who was arrested at a nearby campsite soon after police arrived.

“We sealed off the routes so nobody could escape and helped the police when they came,” one fisherman told the Advertiser.