Rescue after Hawke’s Bay waterfall reserve fall

A person is carried across a bridge during a rescue mission at Tangoio Falls, northwest of Napier, on Monday afternoon. Photo / Warren Buckland

Two people were understood to have been injured after a fall at popular scenic, recreation and swimming reserve Tangoio Falls northwest of Napier on Monday afternoon.

Authorities were alerted about 3pm, and police, Fire and Emergency NZ crews from Bay View and Napier, and ambulances from Hato Hone St John rushed to the scene to set up a rescue operation, with one person initially reported to be clinging to a tree.

Communications with the remote area, about 30 minutes from Napier, were difficult, but a fire service spokesperson in Wellington said it appeared both people had been brought to safety by the time the crews arrived.

One person was carried out along the walking track by stretcher across a bridge to a waiting ambulance.

A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said one person had serious injuries during an assessment at the scene, and was being taken by ambulance the 40km to Hawke’s Bay Hospital in Hastings.

Hospital staff said early-evening that a man in his 20s was being assessed in the Emergency Department.

The falls are one of the highlights of a well-known walking track just north of Napier, which has several popular swimming spots.

The incident came on Hawke’s Bay’s hottest day in more than a year, the first time temperatures had reached 30C at MetService recording stations in the region since February 4 last year.

The Napier temperature of 31.3C about 5pm, was the hottest throughout the country for the day, and it was 30.9C in Hastings. The temperature at Wairoa was 27.9C, and on the Takapau Plains near Waipukurau it was 24C.