Wentworth Falls landslide: Teen treks 90 minutes after her father and son killed in freak landslide

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A British teenage girl has been hailed a hero for raising the alarm that allowed emergency services to save her mother and brother after they were trapped by a deadly landslide in Australia. 

She was praised as more details emerged about the plight of the British family hit by a fatal landslide at Wentworth Falls, west of Sydney, on Monday afternoon. 

The father, 49, and young son, nine, were crushed to death while his wife, 50, and another son, 14, are now fighting for life in hospital in a critical condition.

The 15-year-old girl who escaped the landslide raised the alarm in a frantic call to emergency services at around 1.30pm.

The family were on holiday in Australia and it’s understood the distraught teen told the emergency services operator: ‘I don’t know where we are.’ 

She later walked from the scene with emergency crews, which involved trekking for an hour-and-a-half along a hiking track.

Police said the girl was uninjured but ‘extremely distressed’ and was later treated by paramedics for shock before being taken to hospital. 

The girl is now being hailed as a hero by emergency responders who attended the scene.

Crews returned to the scene early on Tuesday to recover the bodies of the man and boy, which have now been moved from the hiking trail.

Blue Mountains Area Command acting superintendent John Nelson said paramedics who attended the scene on Monday were focused on treating the two critically injured members of the family and getting them to safety.

The hours-long rescue operation had involved sedating the pair and hooking them up to breathing devices before winching them to safety. Rescue crews then returned to the scene Tuesday to remove the bodies. 

Efforts will now focus on exactly how the landslip took place, though NSW Ambulance chief superintendent Stewart Clarke said that all evidence collected so far points to the tragedy being ‘a freak accident’.  

A multi-agency rescue operation was launched to retrieve the family from the 5km Wentworth Pass loop track after the alarm was raised shortly before 1pm on Monday.

It’s understood several bushwalkers on the track assisted rescue workers after coming across the harrowing scenes.

Getting to the victims safely was a difficult operation for emergency crews.

‘These people who work tirelessly for us are the best in what they do,’ Supt Clarke said.

‘They are highly trained and highly skilled but that doesn’t negate the intense risk assessments that were carried out at the time to ensure they were able to use these skills safely to access the patients to deliver some high level clinical care.’

The woman and 14-year-old boy, who suffered severe head and abdominal injuries,  had to be sedated before being winched from the trail by paramedics on Monday night.

They were airlifted to Westmead Hospital and the Children’s Hospital and have both undergone emergency surgery, but remain in a critical condition.

It’s since been revealed the family were permitted to use a treacherous bushwalking trail despite weeks of torrential rain making the area dangerous for hikers.

A video posted by sports and recreation blog ‘Find My Australia’ shows hikers winding their way down the steep cliff and up muddy embankments on the  weekend.  

The clip highlights the precarious nature of the valley walk, which features sharp descents down narrow stone stairways and towering walls of rock. 

Rescuers had struggled to access the victims due not only to the remote location, but the hazardous terrain and unstable trail because of days of heavy downpours across the Blue Mountains. 

The Wentworth Pass track is notoriously steep and is considered as having a grade four difficulty under NSW National Park and Wildlife Service guidelines, which recommends only experienced bushwalkers use it.    

Despite the muddy, slippery conditions, NSW Police said the part of the track where the tragedy happened was open to the public.  

Several areas around Wentworth Falls have been closed since March 11 due to flood damage, with a major landslip recently shutting down Kedumba Valley Road, which is next to the trail. 

National Pass, another trail about 350 metres away from Monday’s deadly incident, has also been closed for the past few weeks due to an ‘ongoing rockfall risk’.   

A man who was at the popular tourist spot about the same time as the Brits on Monday told Daily Mail Australia he cautiously cut his hike short because the ground was muddy and stairways were wet and he’d recently suffered a leg injury on a trek.  

In an post an hour after the tragedy, trail running organiser Ultra-Trail Australia announced the Wentworth Falls track was due to be upgraded later this week to make sure it was safe in time for their upcoming event. 

‘We’ve been working closely with [National Parks and Council teams] to ensure that our courses will be good to go come 12-15 May, and we’re confident that they will be ready in five weeks time,’ the group wrote on their Facebook page about 2.30pm. 

‘Parks has asked us to let you all know about a few upcoming track closures this week on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th of April (weather dependent), which include sections of course near Fairmont Resort and Wentworth Falls.’ 

However, hours after the deaths, NSW National Park and Wildlife Service announced the section would be closed indefinitely.

‘The Wentworth Falls and Valley of the Waters precincts are closed following a rockfall incident,’ the department wrote on their website.

‘Please avoid this area until further notice.’ 

Hiking fanatics who visited the same trail in recent days have expressed their shock and offered condolences to the British family online. 

‘This is the trail we completed two days earlier and were unaware of any dangers at the time,’ they wrote on Facebook.

‘Our thoughts are with the families of these walkers’. 

The family were holidaying in Australia from the UK, NSW Police have confirmed, and the British Consulate is now assisting.

Authorities are still working to determine whether the landslide fell on the group while they were walking along a bush track, or if they were trekking along the cliff face that fell.   

‘Unfortunately there’s been a landslip while they were bushwalking and a man and a boy have passed away,’ Mr Nelson told reporters.

‘In terms of the site, it’s extremely dangerous and unstable. 

‘Two other patients are critical, with head and abdominal injuries, requiring sedation before extraction.’

NSW Ambulance superintendent Stewart Clarke added: ‘This is absolutely heartbreaking for all involved and a truly tragic ending to what I’m sure was meant to be a pleasant day out.

‘It is terribly sad to have lost two lives here today and my heart goes out to the families and the survivors of this horrific ordeal who have witnessed what is certainly a traumatic event.

‘This was a really complex and delicate rescue operation for our crews who were working to access patients in rugged bushland and were navigating unstable ground.’

Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill offered his thoughts to the victims, their family, and friends. 

‘Whether resident here or not, those who come within our beautiful Blue Mountains are taken to our hearts,’ Mr Greenhill said.

‘Moments like this cause pain and grief to our entire Blue Mountains family.’ 

Seven paramedic road crews including special operations paramedics and two rescue helicopters with a critical care doctor and a critical care paramedic on board were dispatched to the scene. 

The rescue operation also involved local police, Police Rescue, Fire and Rescue NSW, National Parks & Wildlife Services, Blue Mountains detectives, and PolAir and rescue helicopters.