British tramper released from hospital

British tramper James Esbester was discharged from hospital last night after being rescued from rugged bush in the upper Crow River area of Kahurangi National Park.

Mr Esbester had spent five nights lost in extremely rugged terrain before being spotted by a rescue helicopter about 8pm yesterday. He was uninjured but suffering mild hypothermia when he was picked up.

Incident Controller Sergeant Mike Fitzsimons said Police were this morning working to get the search teams safely out of the area. Police are also interviewing Mr Esbester this morning to get a clear picture of what has happened over the past five days.