The police Eagle helicopter takes off from Whatipū carpark during the search for a missing party of students tramping in the area. Photo / Huia Volunteer Fire Brigade
Five high-school-age students had to be rescued by police after getting lost deep in the West Auckland bush overnight.
The students were reported missing after failing to return from their 24-hour tramp on Tuesday afternoon.
Auckland was hit with two bouts of intense rain while the students waited to be found.
Three’s AM Show reported five students aged 16 to 17 started their trip from Auckland’s Piha on Monday.
Emergency services were alerted when they did not exit the bush at Whatipū yesterday afternoon.
A police spokesperson said police, land search and rescue and the police air support unit found the students in the bush just after midnight.
“The group has since been accompanied to safety and no injuries were reported,” the spokesperson said.
Auckland shift commander Inspector Kerry Watson told AM the teachers called the police “promptly” when they failed to return.
“That’s the reality of when you’re working in the outdoors, sometimes things happen that you don’t plan for,” he said.
Watson said the students were taught to stay still if they became lost, which is what they did.
“I really can’t say the school has done anything wrong.”
Auckland Fire Department Assistant Commander Dave Woon lives in the area and helped with the rescue.
He said the police Eagle “located the group early on”.
“We were in a particularly good position because the police had picked up a location via Eagle and we could make assumptions that there weren’t any medical problems.”
He said the local fire brigade deals with a “diverse” range of jobs, so the rescue was not out of the ordinary for them.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.