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New Zealand Police
Sergeant Craig Madden
Wellington, April 16, 2017
Tauranga Police and volunteers from across the community rescued last night a 17-year-old girl who was stuck on a cliff in the Omanawa Gorge, south of Tauranga.
The Police received a repot at about 320 pm that the teen had become lost.
The search
Police, in a combined effort with volunteers from Tauranga LandSAR and the New Zealand Response Team Tauranga NZ-RT16, set out to try and find the girl.
Three volunteers and the girl’s father began to search from the bottom of the cliffs while other searchers looked along the top of the cliff line.
The crews at the top made voice contact with the teenager but could not sight her and hence at 620 pm, a volunteer was lowered over the edge on a rope system.
The rescue
He soon located her and put her into a harness so that she could be pulled up the cliff.
By the time this process was completed and the volunteer was also lifted back up, it had got dark and was no longer safe for the four searchers at the bottom of the cliff to walk out of the gorge.
Therefore, the ropes were then used to pull the four-remaining people up the cliff face.
The rescue ended up taking several hours but was completed successfully thanks to great team effort.
The girl’s mother Maree expressed her recognition for the teams that rescued her daughter.
“They are amazing people, especially as they are volunteers taking their time out on a long weekend,” she said.
Police would like to thank LandSAR and NZ-RT16 for their help in this event.
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