By MERAIAH FOLEY
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Authorities checked for fuel leaks Saturday on a coal freighter run aground by a storm that brought flooding, landslides and blackouts in eastern Australia and killed at least five people.
Officials said there was some risk of the 738-foot Pasha Bulker ship breaking apart and spilling tens of thousands of gallons fuel oil into the sea.
An aircraft that flew over the Panama-registered ship found no signs of leaking oil or fuel, said New South Wales state maritime chief Neil Patchett. He said "contingency arrangements" were in place for any leakage.
The coal ship was pushed onto a sand bank early Friday by winds up to 50 mph and a 26-foot swell off the port city of Newcastle, 90 miles north of Sydney. Rescue helicopters airlifted the 21 Filipino crew members to safety at a nearby park.
Experts were assessing whether the ship could be salvaged. It had no cargo but was carrying about 205,800 gallons of fuel oil, 11,170 gallons of diesel and 11,760 gallons of lubricating oil.
Police recovered the bodies of an elderly couple whose car was swept off a bridge near the city of Newcastle.
The bodies of a man and two children were also discovered in an area where police were searching for a family of five who went missing when their car fell into a swollen creek after a section of highway collapsed.
Authorities were also searching Saturday for a man who was last seen being swept into a storm drain in Newcastle.
Energy Australia, the state's main power supplier, said around 200,000 homes were without electricity between northern Sydney and Newcastle.