Bodies of British father-and-son tourists recovered after Blue Mountains landslide
The bodies of a father and son killed in a landslide while on holiday from the UK to Australia's Blue Mountains have been recovered by police.
A New South Wales Police spokesperson confirmed that the bodies of the 49-year-old man and his nine-year-old son werewinchedoutbypolairyesterday.
Five members of the same family, on holiday from the UK, were caught in the landslide on Monday. The mother and another son are in a critical condition in hospital.
New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet called the incident "tragic" and said he would be seeking advice as to whether the walking track should have been open given recent heavy rain.
"These tragedies occur too often so anything we can do to keep people safe, we will," Mr Perrottet told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation yesterday.
"Obviously, the Blue Mountains is a place where people love to go trekking. It's one of the wonders of the world but when those tragedies occur it would be remiss of any government not to act."
Following the removal of the bodies, the New South Wales Department of Environment and Heritage announced that theareawasclosedtothepublic until further notice and a "comprehensive review" would be undertaken.
"(New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service) has a world class program in place to assess geotechnical risks and maintain the safety of walking
tracks and other infrastructure to the greatest extent practicable," the statement said.
"Unfortunately it is not possible to predict and eliminate all naturalriskssuchasrockslides, which can occasionally occur around the state."
The Department added that thewalkingtrackwasinspected in the days before the rockslide as part of a routine track assessment program.
Speakingtoradiostation2gb, Blue Mountains Area Command acting superintendent John Nelson said emergency serviceswerefocusedoncaring for the two surviving members ofthefamilywhowerecritically injured in the landslide.
He said the 50-year-old womanand14-year-oldboywereina critical condition at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.
They were taken to hospiic
tal with significant head and abdominal injuries following the incident on the walking track, which was reported to emergency services at around 1:40pm local time on Monday.
The nine-year-old and his father died at the scene at Wentworth Pass in the Blue Mountains, some 100 miles west of Sydney,newsouthwalespolice said.
A fifth member of the same
family, a 15-year-old girl, was treated for shock. Mr Nelson described the 15-year-old girl as "extremely distressed".
Stewart Clarke, from NSW Ambulance, said the incident happened in an "extremely dangerous, extremely unstable environment".
"It is terribly sad to have lost two lives here today and my heart goes out to the families and the survivors of this horrif
ordeal who have witnessed what is certainly a traumatic event".
A British High Commission spokespersonsaid:"wearesupporting the family of a British couple and their children following an incident in the Blue Mountains. Our staff in Australia are in contact with local police."