misfortune in Australia
Father and son die after landslide in Blue Mountains
Viewpoint in the Blue Mountains of Australia. There five hikers were hit by a landslide.
© Daniel Naupold / DPA
The Blue Mountains in Australia are popular with tourists. Now a father and a son have died there in a landslide. The mother and another son were seriously injured.
Five hikers have been hit by a landslide in the famous Blue Mountains on Australia’s east coast. Two of them died, the police said on Monday. “Unfortunately, a man and a boy died in the landslide,” police spokesman John Nelson said.
A woman and another boy were seriously injured. “Both patients have significant head and abdominal injuries,” Nelson said. A girl, on the other hand, remained largely unharmed and was taken out of the forest on foot. Nelson spoke of a “tragic scene”.
More details about the accident are now known. According to police, the victims were a family of five from Great Britain who were vacationing in Australia. The father and a nine-year-old boy were killed by stones in the landslide. The mother and a 14-year-old son are being treated in hospital with serious injuries, mainly to the head and abdomen. The 15-year-old daughter, largely uninjured, is in shock and is being looked after by the British consulate, among other things, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported on Tuesday.
Rescue work was extremely difficult
The accident happened in the early afternoon (local time) near Wentworth Falls. Numerous rescue workers were on duty. The rescue work was extremely difficult because the accident happened in an inaccessible area. The injured were initially cared for by emergency doctors who were roped down from a helicopter. They were later hoisted out of the densely forested area by helicopter using a winch.
The Blue Mountains west of Sydney are one of Australia’s most iconic sights. The huge plateau is traversed by imposing gorges, dense forests, waterfalls, rivers and impressive rock formations such as the Three Sisters near Katoomba. The Blue Mountains have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.