Operation Lion Rock

Waitakere CIB investigators went to Piha this morning to carry out a scene examination after an incident in which two men received serious injuries.

The investigators who were accompanied by police search and rescue specialists went to a sector about three quarters of the way up Lion Rock from where the two men fell.

Police say the incident happened at about 12.20am Wednesday 24 February 2010. The two men aged 18 and 31 years were transported to Auckland Hospital by Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Their condition remains critical.

The police search and rescue team is still at the scene.

Five police officers are examining in detail the difficult and dangerous terrain where the two men fell onto rocks below. A police photographer is at scene.

The height of Lion Rock is recorded at 101 metres. The two males fell from a location about three quarters up the rock. Their fall has been estimated at over 60 metres and included two sheer cliffs.

Police say until they are able to talk to both men the exact circumstances of the incident cannot be determined. Police will not speculate on the incident.

It’s believed the two men went to Piha between 11.00pm and midnight. They are believed to have been in a white Nissan utility vehicle that was sighted there last night.

Anyone with information or sightings of this vehicle in the Piha Beach area prior to midnight last night is urged to contact the Henderson CIB on 09 839 0600 or via Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

No further comment will be made by Police today: