A body, believed to be that of missing Irishman Shane O'Halloran was pulled from the Brisbane river in Queensland late last night.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the body is expected to be formally identified as that of Mr O’Halloran.
According to Australian media, construction workers spotted a man's body on the river bank at about 11.50pm Irish time last night, not far from where Mr O'Halloran originally went missing.
It is understood that Mr O’Halloran drowned on Saturday night after apparently diving overboard from a cruise ship to save a female friend.
The pair were among about 120 people celebrating the 24th birthday of a friend on board the Lady Brisbanewhen the 26-year-old Irish woman fell overboard.
The incident happened after 10pm on Saturday, near the Hale Street link at Milton, a suburban village near Brisbane.
The woman was quickly rescued using a rope to haul her from the water. However, Mr O’Halloran, who police believe could not swim, did not surface.
Jim Kelly, director of Brisbane Cruises which operates pleasure craft on the river, told local media Mr O’Halloran and the woman were kissing when she slipped and fell. The pair were said to have been sitting on a waist-high railing at the back of the vessel when the woman lost her balance and fell into the river about 10.25pm.
“We spent the next few hours and endless help of other vessels and water police and pedestrians to scour and comb the area. There was an infra-red helicopter which came as well,” he said.
“It was just near the end of the floodtide. We marked the location with a life buoy as well. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any evidence of the male person.”