One Chinese tourist has died and several others have been rescued after becoming stranded in extreme weather conditions at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania.
Emergency services were alerted on Friday afternoon when another walking party found the group suffering from severe cold and unable to continue.
The rescue operation took nearly 24 hours to complete due to dangerous weather conditions that prevented helicopter deployment.
Search and rescue teams, SES volunteers, Parks and Wildlife staff and paramedics walked into the remote location on Friday evening and camped overnight with the stranded group.
“This is a tragic outcome for a group of visitors to Tasmania,” Inspector Steve Jones said.
“Unfortunately, they were not prepared for bushwalking and found themselves overwhelmed by the extreme weather conditions.”
The group lacked essential safety equipment including personal locator beacons and appropriate clothing for alpine conditions.
“The group did not have appropriate equipment … and were unable to call for assistance when they first realised they needed help,” Jones said.
“Fortunately, another group of walkers found them and rendered valuable assistance with the limited supplies they had.”
The surviving members of the group walked out safely on Saturday morning with assistance from rescue teams and are reported to be in good condition.
Inspector Jones praised the walking party who discovered the stranded tourists and provided initial assistance with their limited supplies.
He warned that Tasmania’s weather can change rapidly, making helicopter rescues impossible during extreme conditions.
“Tasmania’s weather can change very quickly, particularly in the alpine areas,” he said.
“This means there are times such as this when we can’t deploy the helicopter and it takes time for a ground search and rescue team to walk into remote areas.”
