A sandbar party in Cullen Bay resulted in chaos. Photo/ Facebook
A sandbar party in Cullen Bay resulted in chaos. Photo/ Facebook
Police officers said they were "horrified" at the scenes they witnessed as hundreds of revellers let loose at a beach party.
A police investigation is under way after hundreds of revellers partied on a Darwin sandbar near croc-infested waters.
The event, which was earlier spruiked by the Northern Territory's ChiefMinister, saw hundreds party on a sandbar near Darwin's CBD.
As the tide rose, and the event drew to a close, brawls broke out, an overloaded boat capsized as partygoers attempted to flee and police seized hundreds of litres of alcohol.
NT Water Police Acting Senior Sergeant Andrew Hocking said the event was an ordeal for his officers when speaking to local media on Monday.
In one case, he said, it had taken two hours for four officers and two boats, including the unit's largest vessel, to help get everyone at the party back to shore.
He added the officers had been shocked by some partygoers' behaviour.
"They were frankly horrified at the time about what they were seeing," he said.
"[There were] overloaded boats, no safety gear. They had boats capsizing, people in the water, lots of drunken activity.
"There were also fights, alleged assaults taking place."
Police also seized about 300L of alcohol from the event.
Senior Sergeant Hocking added the height and current of the incoming tide and the number of partygoers had made the situation so dangerous that police were "genuinely concerned" for people's lives.