The Southland Times

Tourist rescued from ravine

- REBECCA MOORE

A French tourist was rescued from the bottom of ravine in Fiordland after a 12-hour search and rescue mission during the weekend.

The 20-year-old man was reported missing on Saturday night after he set out for a day walk on a track off Milford Rd in the Falls Creek area about 2pm.

His friends contacted police after he failed to return more than six hours later, about 8.15pm.

Te Anau police initiated a search and a team of four LandSAR volunteers into the area.

The man was found about 1.30am yesterday, but the search party could not reach him because of difficult and steep terrain, Sergeant Tod Hollebon said.

‘‘He was stuck at the bottom of a very steep ravine,’’ he said.

The searchers made contact but after several attempts decided it were sent was too dark and dangerous to reach him.

A Southern Lakes helicopter, with a long line and a scoop net, was called in to rescue the man about 8.30am.

‘‘The experience­d search team did a great job locating him last night, and assisting the helicopter this morning. Precision flying with the long line got everyone out safely,’’ Hollebon said.

It was ‘‘quite remarkable’’ the tourist got into the position he was in without falling and that he was not seriously injured, he said.

He received medical treatment for ‘‘a head knock’’.

Police and LandSAR remind people to take extra care when venturing into the outdoors.

‘‘It’s important to ensure that you are well-prepared with warm clothing, food, and a communicat­ions device such as an EPIRB (personal locator beacon), as cellphone coverage can become unreliable,’’ Hollebon said.

Balclutha house fire

An unoccupied house in Balclutha was gutted by fire yesterday morning. Fire services were called to the Cranleigh Rd property about 12.30am. A fire spokesman said fire services attended a house that was ‘‘just about burnt down’’. The house was ‘‘well-razed’’ when crews arrived, he said. Fire investigat­or Cathy Trevathan was investigat­ing the cause, the spokesman said. A police spokeswoma­n said police were called to investigat­e and the cause of the fire was unexplaine­d.

Two-car crash

Two people were injured in a two-car crash on the Riverton-Wallacetow­n Highway on Saturday. Police were called to the crash at 11.40am. A police spokeswoma­n said one person was trapped and had moderate injuries. Two people were taken to Southland Hospital.

Car on fire in Invercargi­ll

Fire services were called to a parked car on fire in Glengarry, Invercargi­ll, about 7am yesterday. A fire spokesman said the fire was described as small and was out when fire crews arrived. The cause of the fire was unknown but was not declared as suspicious, he said. No one was injured.

Investigat­ion continues

The name of the man who died at South Port on Friday is yet to be released. A police spokeswoma­n said police were still notifying family. Emergency services were called to reports a 54-year-old man was run over by a loader early on Friday morning. A WorkSafe New Zealand spokespers­on said they had no further updates on the investigat­ion.

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