A tourist has died after her walking group faced sudden extreme weather conditions at Cradle Mountain national park in Tasmania on Friday.
Police on Saturday confirmed that one woman among the group of four Chinese nationals visiting the state had died but said the other three were in good condition.
The group had ventured to the national park on Friday, where another walking group later found them in difficulty and suffering from the cold.
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The other walking party called emergency services about 3.30pm on Friday, but the weather prevented a rescue crew from reaching the group until later in the afternoon.
Rescuers with police search and rescue, the SES, the parks and wildlife service and Ambulance Tasmania were ultimately able to reach the party and camped with them overnight before they walked out of the area on Saturday morning.
Tasmania police inspector Steve Jones said it was a “tragic outcome” for the group of visitors, adding that the state’s weather can change “very quickly, particularly in the alpine areas”.
“Unfortunately, they were not prepared for bushwalking and found themselves overwhelmed by the extreme weather conditions,” Jones said.
“The group did not have appropriate equipment, including a personal locator beacon, and were unable to call for assistance when they first realised they needed help.
“Fortunately, another group of walkers found them and rendered valuable assistance with the limited supplies they had.”
Jones said that extreme weather conditions delayed assistance as rescue officials weren’t able to deploy a helicopter to reach the party and it took time for ground search and rescue teams to reach them.
