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Police say the four Chinese nationals were hiking the national park when a passing group said they were facing difficulties and suffering from the cold. The other group contacted emergency services at about 3.30pm on Friday to assist the group. Extreme weather conditions prevented a helicopter being deployed, police said in a statement, requiring police rescuers in addition to SES crews, Park and Wildlife Services, and Ambulance Tasmania to walk in late on Friday afternoon to locate the group. Police have confirmed a woman in the group died. Rescuers and the tourists camped overnight, with the search and rescue party assisting the group off the mountain on Saturday morning. The other members of the group are in good condition, authorities say. “This is a tragic outcome for a group of visitors to Tasmania. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for bushwalking and found themselves overwhelmed by the extreme weather conditions,” said Inspector Steve Jones. “The group did not have appropriate equipment including a personal locator beacon and were unable to call for assistance when they first realised they needed help. “Fortunately, another group of walkers found them and rendered valuable assistance with the limited supplies they had.” Tasmanian authorities said weather conditions can change quickly in the alpine areas. “This means there are times such as this when we can’t deploy the helicopter and it takes time for a ground search and rescue team to walk into remote areas,” he said. More to come
