Three missing, feared drowned after crowded 4WD swept into Northern Territory floodwaters.

By Jacqueline Breen

A woman and two men are feared drowned after a troop carrier trying to cross a flooded causeway south-west of Darwin was swept off the road with 15 people on board.

Police say 12 people managed to escape before the vehicle was pulled into the Moyle River near Peppimenarti sometime before 9:00pm last night.

The vehicle was fully submerged but has been located approximately 50 metres downstream of the crossing.

Duty superintendent Rob Farmer said police hold grave fears for the missing three people.

“Searches of both sides of the riverbank [on Friday night] were yet to locate any persons,” he said.

He said Saturday’s search effort could only begin when the water dropped to a safer level.

“It’s a flooded waterway, we’re going to have to wait for the water to recede,” he said.

“The difficulty you’re going to have is getting any recovery vehicle close enough to be able to recover the vehicle.”

The group was made up of people from the predominantly Indigenous communities of Wadeye and Palumpa.

Despite earlier concerns about the potential presence of crocodiles police said divers may be sent into the water to search the submerged troopie.

The causeway was covered with 60 centimetres of water at the deepest point on Friday night, and is considered impassable by local police at 40 centimetres.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.