KEY POINTS:
A 20-year-old man spent a night in rugged bush with multiple injuries, dressed in just a singlet and shorts, after being attacked by a swarm of bees and falling 35m down a cliff.
The man had gone for a walk down a ravine at the back of a house on Dekkar Rd, near Pyes Pa, 16km south of Tauranga, about 5pm on Thursday. The residents of the house raised the alarm when he failed to return.
Police and a search and rescue team scaled down the ravine in search of the man with the TrustPower TECT rescue helicopter hovering above.
Ground crews heard him shouting but were unable to trace his voice or make out what he was saying.
The team called off the search when the light failed but returned at dawn yesterday. The man was found about 100m down the ravine.
The rescue helicopter dropped a St John paramedic and the injured man was airlifted to Tauranga Hospital.
He suffered head injuries, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken finger, a dislocated shoulder, hand and leg injuries.
Rescue helicopter pilot Liam Brettkelly said the dense bush hampered the search. The man was hard to spot, "though we were only metres away".
