Tramper rescued after overnight stay in bush with no food or water

By RNZ

A tramper has been rescued after spending a night in the bush on the Kapiti Coast after becoming disoriented.

The man had not planned on staying after dark, but was ill-equipped and became lost on a track near Waikanae.

He had no food or water with him, was wearing only light clothing, and faced a long night in the bush as rescue teams tried to locate him.

Police received a distress call at 11.30pm on Monday, before tracking the tramper’s cellphone co-ordinates, right up until it ran out of battery.

Wellington search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Jonathan Westrupp said the rescuers were finally able to find the man at about 11.20am on Tuesday - 12 hours after he first called for help.

“Search resources were deployed quickly, but the search became very difficult as it descended into a river with steep hazardous terrain and log jams,” he said.

“Thankfully, a police dog team eventually located the man and by that time he was very cold and hungry, but otherwise unharmed.”

The dying cellphone battery complicated the search, along with the man ignoring advice to stay put after getting lost.

Westrupp said it was vital for anyone lost to stay put, as they were at greater risk moving around, and could be more difficult to find.

It is the second such incident in less than a week after another ill-equipped person had to be rescued by search crews. On Saturday, rescuers tramped for six hours to reach a hypothermic man on Mount Taranaki who was caught out by poor weather.

Westrupp said he was lucky he was able to walk out with rescuers and nobody was seriously hurt, or possibly worse.

- RNZ

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