Brit teen raised alarm to save mum and brother after landslide killed dad and sibling, 9
Two people were killed in the tragedy while another two remain in hospital.
A teenager has been hailed a hero after she raised the alarm when her family was caught in a deadly landslide in the Australian wilderness.
The 15-year-old made a frantic call to the emergency services after the British family of five was hit by the landslide at Wentworth Pass in Australia’s Blue Mountains on Monday.
The dad, 49, and his son, nine, died at the scene but the teenager’s actions enabled the emergency services to rush her mum, 50, and another boy, 14 to hospital.
The girl, who escaped the landslide, raised the alarm at around 1.30pm on Monday, the Daily Mail has reported.
It’s understood she told the emergency services operator: ‘I don’t know where we are.’
She then trekked for around an hour-and-a-half through the mountains to help rescuers locate her family.
Police said she was ‘extremely distressed’ following the ‘heart-breaking’ incident and was taken to hospital to be treated for shock.
Following the incident, the girl, whose family was on holiday when the tragedy struck, has been praised by the emergency services for her actions.
The British Consulate in Australia is supporting her and her family.
New South Wales Ambulance said seven road crews and two aircrews were sent to the scene on Monday.
Blue Mountains Area Command acting superintendent John Nelson said paramedics who attended focused on treating the two critically injured members of the family.
The long and complicated rescue mission involved sedating the pair, who suffered head and abdominal injuries, before airlifting them to safety.
They were taken Westmead Hospital and the Children’s Hospital where they are both understood to have undergone emergency surgery. They remain in a critical condition.
Crews returned to the scene early on Tuesday to recover the bodies of the man and boy from the hiking trail.
Stewart Clarke, NSW ambulance superintendent said following the tragedy, efforts would now focus on how the landslide took place.
Mr Clarke said that all evidence collected so far pointed to it being ‘a freak accident’
‘This is absolutely heartbreaking for all involved and a truly tragic ending to what I’m sure was meant to be a pleasant day out,’ he said.
‘It is terribly sad to have lost two lives here today and my heart goes out to the families and the survivors of this horrific ordeal who have witnessed what is certainly a traumatic event.
‘This was a really complex and delicate rescue operation for our crews who were working to access patients in rugged bushland and were navigating unstable ground.’
The Blue Mountains get about four million tourists a year, the most of any national park in Australia.
The Wentworth Pass track is a notoriously steep trek and is considered as having a grade four difficulty under NSW National Park and Wildlife Service guidelines, which recommends only experienced walkers take it.
Australia’s east has been lashed by heavy rains triggering flash flooding and mudslides, with Sydney recording its wettest March on record.
The weather has led to several areas around Wentworth Falls being closed since March 11 due to flood damage.
A major landslip recently shut down Kedumba Valley Road, which is next to the trail, where the family were when they were caught.
While part of the Wentworth Pass was closed ‘due to flood damage and ongoing rockfall risk’, the section walked by the family was open, according to The National Parks and Wildlife Service website.
The track, which has since been closed until further notice, was given a routine inspection in the days before the incident, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said in a statement.
‘Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict and eliminate all natural risks such as rockslides, which can occasionally occur around the state,’ a NPWS spokesperson said.
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