The bodies of a nine-year-old boy and his 49-year-old father have been flown out of the Blue Mountains where they were killed by a freak landslide on Monday.
The British family of five, including a husband, wife and three children, were on holidays in Australia when tragedy struck around 1.40pm at Wentworth Pass.
A rescue helicopter winched the first body from bushland, near Wentworth Pass, around 9.20am on Tuesday.
A second, smaller body was seen being recovered from the same area about 10 minutes later.
The family’s eldest child, a 15-year-old girl, escaped uninjured and was able to make the hour-and a half hike back to safety with the assistance of emergency services.
Rescue crews said she was extremely distressed and treated for shock at the scene.
She is being cared for at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
The 50-year-old mother and her 14-year-old son remain in a critical condition after they suffered significant head and abdominal injuries during the landslide.
They were winched from the remote area just before 6pm and flown to hospital.
The teenage girl called triple-0 and a rescue operation was carried out late into the night to rescue the surviving family members.
“I don’t know where we are,” she reportedly told emergency services.
“The daughter is in shock in hospital at the moment, so we are focused on caring for her and just trying to get that support for her,” Acting NSW Police Superintendent John Nelson told radio station 2GB on Tuesday morning.
NSW National Parks confirmed in a statement on Tuesday morning that the walking track was inspected just days before the landslide as part of a routine assessment program.
The assessments are carried out to ensure that track infrastructure is maintained to the “greatest extent practicable”.
“Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict and eliminate all natural risks such as rockslides, which can occasionally occur around the state,” the statement read.
Blue Mountains tour operator Graham Chapman told 2GB that he was walking with a group in the area not long after paramedics arrived on the scene.
“Brought me tears,” he said.
“It’s the worst possible scenario as we open back up. International people are coming to our amazing country and this tragedy has happened”
“I know that track very well and it’s a track that’s not for the faint-hearted – it’s a tough track, deep in the valley.”
Rescue crews have begun their 70-minute descent to the disaster site to retrieve the bodies of the father and son.
“Obviously. there’s been quite a lot of weather and we’ve got quite some weather to come,” Superintendent Nelson said.
“Landslips can come at anytime so it’s always an issue.”
The family was walking the Wentworth Pass hiking track – a historic track that runs off the National Pass underneath 150m of cliff faces.
“As you can appreciate, it’s a tragic scene,” Superintendent Nelson said.
“In terms of the site, it’s extremely dangerous and unstable, so our rescuers are working under quite arduous conditions.
“The first special operations and special casualty access team paramedics who did access the patient did so under extreme circumstances.”
The two critically injured patients are understood to have sustained significant head and abdominal injuries, requiring them to be sedated and intubated prior to being winched out by helicopter.
“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,” NSW Ambulance Acting Chief Superintendent Stewart Clarke 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.”
Multiple agencies were involved in trying to help the hikers.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service had on its website a “major landslip” had forced the closure of Kedumba Valley Road after the second gate.
The National Pass was also closed “due to flood damage and ongoing rockfall risk”, the service said.
It is unknown why the Wentworth Falls track remained open despite widespread closures across the popular tourist destination.
“The one thing I will say about National Parks is that whenever there is any sign of danger they are so quick to shut tracks down,” Mr Chapman told 2GB.
Officers from Blue Mountains Police Area Command have begun inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The British Consulate is working with Australian authorities to contact relatives of the family back home in the United Kingdom.
