4 rescued as river levels rise

Four people have been rescued from Mt Aspiring National Park near Wānaka after rivers became too dangerous to cross.

Police issued a warning yesterday afternoon to trampers planning to walk through the park that the rivers were ‘‘hazardous with considerable flows and high water levels’’.

Two rescues were made yesterday morning.

Three women, understood to be students, were rescued after activating their personal locator beacon at Siberia Hut, after Siberia Stream became dangerous to cross about 9.30am.

A helicopter retrieved the women and on the return journey rescuers saw a man struggling to cross Makaroa River and he was picked up also.

Wā naka Search And Rescue, the rescue co-ordination centre, and police helped with both rescues.

More rain was forecast in the area and would get heavier this evening, according to MetService.

Police said rivers were ‘‘likely to remain dangerous’’.

Trampers were advised to check river levels and speak to locals in Wānaka before setting out, and avoid rivers in the park if possible.

Heavy rain and high rivers claimed the lives of three trampers in two incidents in the national park in February 2020.

The bodies of Dunedin student Kevin Kum Fike Lee, 22, and French tourist Ashwini Rasiwala, 20, who had been tramping together, were found near each other in the Makarora River.

Around the same time, friends reported that British backpacker Stephanie Simpson, 32, was overdue from a tramp in the same area.

Her body was later found in a canyon near Pike Creek.

Severe weather at the time wreaked havoc and caused a state of emergency to be declared in Southland.