Missing hiker Hadi Nazari, 23 (seated), surrounded by hikers who located him off the circuit walk near Blue Lake. Photo / NSW RFS
Missing hiker Hadi Nazari, 23 (seated), surrounded by hikers who located him off the circuit walk near Blue Lake. Photo / NSW RFS
Hadi Nazari, 23, was rescued after surviving two weeks in Kosciuszko National Park by eating two muesli bars.
Nazari was found by hikers after calling out, and was in good health despite minor injuries.
Up to 300 people were involved in the search, with Nazari’s fitness and experience aiding his survival.
A young hiker missing for two weeks in some of Australia’s toughest country survived by eating two muesli bars found in a hut before his incredible rescue on Wednesday.
Hadi Nazari, 23, was last seen by his friends about 2.30pm on December 26 while on a hike in the Kosciuszko National Park.
He was found on Wednesday after he called out to passing hikers.
Despite spending nearly two weeks in the wilderness, he was in good health when he was found, police said.
He had only eaten two muesli bars which he found in a hut. Police say his fitness and hiking experience probably helped him survive.
Images show Nazari hugging family and friends at the search command centre.
Nazari was taken to hospital for checks and police say more details of his ordeal will be shared on Thursday when authorities can speak to him in detail.
On Boxing Day, Nazari was descending the Hannels Spur trail between Khancoban and Thredbo and was expected to meet his friends at the Geehi campground but failed to arrive.
Hadi Nazari, 23, was last seen by his friends about 2.30pm on December 26 while on a hike in the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales.
Up to 300 people were involved in the search, with rubbish and hiking poles believed to belong to Nazari found near the Kosciuszko River late on New Year’s Eve.
How hiker was rescued
NSW Police said he had been found by hikers off the circuit walk near Blue Lake about 3.15pm on Wednesday.
Nazari was then winched from where he was found to the command post, where he was initially assessed by paramedics.
The NSW Rural Fire Service released footage of rescuers reaching Nazari. The images show nine people standing and sitting with the 23-year-old on a hillside.
The footage shows Nazari being rescued from a mountainside at 2011m altitude.
The camera operator on the helicopter zooms out from the group, showing the massive expanse of peaks and valleys the hiker was plucked from.
Police Superintendent Andrew Spliet shared the latest details about the incident on Wednesday afternoon.
The missing hiker was found about 10km from the search command post.
“One of my police at the scene had spoken to him, and he relayed that he found a hut up there in the mountains and there were two muesli bars up there that he had eaten,” Spliet said.
“And that’s pretty much all that he’s had to consume over the last two weeks.”
Police say Nazari’s fitness and hiking experience – including essential equipment – probably helped him survive. The hiker has some minor cuts, bruises and sprains.
The superintendent was hopeful Nazari would have seen and heard the search helicopters.
“The area where he was located did have a lot of air assets and air traffic through there, along the search routes and also going back to refuel in that area,” Superintendent Spliet said.
“So, I’m hoping that he would have been able to see that, that there was a significant amount of people out there trying to find him.”
After medical assessments, authorities will have a full debrief with Nazari and expect to share more details of the episode on Thursday.
“The further details about where he’s been and how he looked after himself are still yet to be determined,” Spliet said.
“We’ll have some police … speak to him, hopefully tomorrow, and just debrief on his experience out there in the bush, and actually what’s happened.”
News of the safe rescue was “fantastic”, he said.
“It was something that the crew, the police, the other organisations that have been there have put a lot of time, a lot of effort into trying to get a successful result into this.”
“So, to hear that come over the radio that he’s been located is just fantastic news.”
Friends celebrate his rescue
His hiking group, Hazara Hikers in Australia, confirmed the news on social media on Wednesday.
“I told him yesterday, don’t worry they will find him tomorrow,” Qasimi said of a conversation with their mutual friend.
“His mother, his sister, oh my god, they are very happy.”
The men have close-knit cultural ties, both being born in Afghanistan and growing up in Pakistan. The mountainous Pakistani city of Quetta forged them.
“The only thing I knew is he grew up in Quetta so he would survive. How he did, I do not know,” Qasimi said of Nazari’s ordeal.
“I was very confident Hadi would survive, because from childhood we don’t have any other hobbies, other than going to the mountains. To break fast, we go to the mountains. For lunch, we go to the mountains.”
Qasimi was concerned and worried though; the dense bush of Mt Kosciuszko is a very different landscape to the dry mountains of Quetta.
Riverina Police District Inspector Josh Broadfoot thanked emergency services for their contributions over the past fortnight, which saw more than 300 people joining the search.
“This is an incredible outcome, after 13 long days he has been located,” he said.
“We want to thank our emergency services partner agencies, volunteers and members of the public for their assistance.
“We never gave up hope of finding him, and we are elated we can return him safely to his family.”
Rescuers had remained hopeful
It comes as Superintendent Spliet said earlier on Wednesday that crews were “very hopeful” Nazari was still alive during their extensive search.
“If you have access to water, it is my understanding, given what we have been told by the experts who look after the survivability report for us, we are still hopeful,” he said.
“He has access to water, that is the reason why we are still out here and actively engaged.
“All of our partner agencies assisting us have people out there who are keen to get a resolution for the families.”
NSW SES South Eastern Zone deputy commander Superintendent Matt Price said crews covered about 12km a day in the search area, which took in some of the steepest and thickest terrain NSW bushland had to offer.
Mt. Kosciuszko National Park. Photo / Getty Images
“SES teams have been on both day and overnight deployments to cover the search areas that we are tasked to by NSW Police,” he said.
“The teams have been rising to the occasion and have been continuously working through tough conditions hoping to get a positive outcome for the family.”
Clues found
Earlier on Tuesday, Riverina Police District commander Superintendent Andrew Spliet said a campfire area and items belonging to Nazari had been found on Sunday.
“We found a fire scene, a little campfire as well as a lighter and camera case and camera that belongs to Mr Nazari,” Spliet said.
“We are making inquiries to try and determine how long ago that little campfire was lit and that will give us, if we can determine that, some type of timeline to when he was last in that specific area.”
Spliet said the camera had images on it but wouldn’t elaborate out of respect for Nazari’s family.
He said the campfire was located “some distance” over a mountain spur from where the rubbish and poles were previously found along Kosciuszko Creek.
“It is a fairly large area, so we are pretty confident he has covered a bit of ground,” Spliet said.
“We are searching a lot of the waterways and so forth because it is very important if you are out in these conditions, in this area, that you have access to water.”
Mt Kosciuszko is Australia’s highest mountain and is surrounded by heavy vegetation, requiring specially trained VRA and SES volunteers and Australian Federal Police officers to be flown into the “rugged and remote” areas.
