Taroona High School staff and students gathered at the school’s Memorial Garden on Wednesday to commemorate the 35th anniversary of a devastating caving tragedy that claimed three young lives.
The school’s Student Representative Council joined Principal Charles White to lay flowers at the memorial, honouring those lost.
“No one should ever go to work or school and not return,” the school said in a statement.
On July 2, 1990, the school’s camp excursion to Mystery Creek Cave near Ida Bay in Tasmania’s south-west turned fatal when flash flooding trapped a party of 11 from Taroona High School.
Student teacher Joanne Cuthbert and students Anita Knoop and Frances O’Neill were swept away by rapidly rising waters while attempting to cross a stream inside the cave.
The tragedy unfolded when heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise suddenly while the group was exploring the cave system.
Despite forming a human chain to cross a stream, three members were caught by the current and swept downstream.
Mark Healey, the teacher leading the excursion, attempted to rescue them but was unable to reach them before they disappeared into a flooded section of the cave.
A major rescue operation involving police, emergency services and local cavers managed to safely extract the eight survivors after hours stranded in darkness.
The bodies of the three victims were recovered the following day. Two months after the incident, Healey also died in Melbourne.
A coronial inquest later determined the cause of death for the three as accidental drowning.
Students and staff at yesterday’s ceremony were asked to “take a moment today to reflect” on the lives lost and their ongoing memory.
