Coroner critical of DOC
Tramper’s death ‘may have been avoidable’
A husband watched his wife slide off the edge of a waterfall in the Fiordland National Park and a coroner says her death may have been prevented if the Department of Conservation (DOC) had acted sooner.
Yesterday, Coroner Marcus Elliott, of Christchurch, released his findings into the death of Israeli tourist Udy Brill in 2016, and French woman Anne-Marie Scaglione Genet who died in 2017, both after falling from the Gertrude Saddle in the Fiordland National Park.
The reports into each death are linked, as the coroner found similarities in the deaths. In both cases, Elliott was critical of DOC.
In March 2016, Brill, 31, died from a head injury he suffered after an accidental fall while descending from the Gertrude Saddle.
Elliott concluded it was likely Brill missed a key point on the route where he could safely cross a stream before descending to the Gertrude Valley floor.
There was a well-worn track on the true left side of the stream.
That track ran past the crossing because of repeated instances of hikers missing the spot where they should cross, Elliott said.
Brill continued down the true left of the stream for some distance and eventually to a waterfall where he found himself in a steep and dangerous terrain which would have been wet and slippery from a nearby waterfall, Elliott said.
‘‘Mr Brill slipped on the rocks while either attempting to descend or attempting to climb back up after he discovered that he was in unsafe terrain.’’
Brill had sufficient experience and was suitably equipped for the trek, Elliott said.
DOC, in the coroner’s report, said a Visitor Incident Investigation was carried out after Brill’s death, which identified that additional markers were required on the route.
By November 2016 polemounted route markers had been ordered but DOC missed the window of opportunity before Christmas to install them.
In January 2017, French woman Anne-Marie ScaglioneGenet, 53, died after she fell in the same area while walking the Gertrude Saddle route.
Scaglione-Genet and her
husband Pierre Genet, on their descent from the saddle, also missed the point on the route where it was safe to cross the stream.
‘‘As a result, they found themselves in an area where the rocks were partially wet. Mrs Scaglione-Genet slipped and fell,’’ Elliott said.
While Scaglione-Genet and her husband did not take exactly the same route as Brill, they were descending in the same area and did find themselves below the safer crossing point in an area, which is obviously dangerous, Elliott said.
Elliott, in his view, said if DOC had taken the step of installing the markers in the 10 months before Scaglione-Genet slipped and fell, her death may have been avoidable.
DOC, in the coroner’s report, in response to the comments the coroner made, acknowledged it could have acted more quickly following Brill’s death, and had it done so Scaglione-Genet’s death may have been preventable.
DOC Te Anau operations manager Greg Lind, speaking after the report’s release, said DOC accepted the findings of the coroner but there were challenges around installing the markers on the route.
The markers were not able to be installed immediately following Brill’s death because winter conditions prevented DOC staff from safely heading into the area, Lind said.
DOC accepted it missed the short period ahead of Christmas 2016 when the markers could have been installed. It said it extended its condolences to both trampers’ families via the coroner’s court.