Father and son fell 100m down cliff

The helicopter rescues the injured father and son. Photo / Kutz Photography

A father and son are recovering in hospital after falling some 100m down a cliff near Tauranga yesterday.

The pair were seriously injured in the fall, which happened as they were walking to Omanawa Falls - a popular swimming spot - about 4pm, the Tauranga-based Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter said.

It was thought the boy, 12, fell first and his father, 38, fell while going to his aid.

The father sustained serious back and shoulder injuries in the fall, and his son serious head injuries.

Both were winched onto the helicopter and flown to Tauranga Hospital.

Tauranga Fire Station senior station officer Phil Price said access had been blocked because an underground tunnel with steep steps to the base of the falls had been deemed hazardous.

Nonetheless, locals had found another path through a hole in a fence and along the top of a cliff.

"It's gated off and the public shouldn't actually have access to it," he said.

"The father was [conscious when we got there], the son was in and out of consciousness."

The father was this morning in an intensive care unit in a serious but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said. The boy was in a stable condition in a ward.

- additional reporting NZME. News Service