Boy rescued from Ruahine Ranges

At about 5.30pm on 30 January 2010 the Police Central Communications Centre received a phone call from a 12 year old boy in the Ruahine Ranges. The boy advised that he had become separated from his tramping group, had slipped down a bank and was clinging to a tree.

Police commenced a search and rescue operation. Two search parties were despatched. The boy was located safe and well at about 8.50pm.

On locating the boy, it was ascertained that he had been with a family group on a tramp to Sunrise Hut in the Ruahine Ranges. He left the track for a toilet stop and in doing so slipped about 100 metres down a steep bank. He then became disorientated and the slippery conditions made it difficult for him to re-locate the track. The weather at the time was light drizzle.

It was extremely lucky that the boy had his mothers cell phone on him at the time of his fall and was able to ring police! Without the phone he certainly would not have been located so quickly