A woman and four young children who were missing for two days in a remote mountain range of New Zealand have been found safe and well.
The five – including children aged between four and nine – were dropped off for a planned one to two hour walk in the Te Urewera national park in the Bay of Plenty just after 1pm on Tuesday afternoon.
The mountain rage is located in a remote and isolated part of New Zealand, on the east coast of the North Island.
The group was reported missing just after 4pm New Zealand time on Wednesday afternoon, and a search was launched overnight in the Otamatuna Ridge.
But the woman and four children were located at 3.45pm New Zealand time on Thursday and were “safe and well”, according to a statement from New Zealand police.
The group were being winched out by helicopter and would be assessed by medical professionals and then reunited with their family.
“While we were fully prepared to keep searching through the night if needed, all are relieved and thankful that the group won’t be having to endure a third cold night in the bush,” said Eastern Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Kevin Taylor.
Ten search teams backed by helicopters had been deployed to find the group who endured two nights with temperatures between three and five degrees.
Search conditions on Thursday were clear and warm, but the weather was set to deteriorate in the region tomorrow, turning severe over the weekend.
Glenn Mitchell, operations manager for the Tuhoe Te Uru Taumatua tribal administration, said the woman was a local Maori woman, of the Tuhoe tribe, and he understood she was a competent and experienced bush woman. She was a local resident of the Waimana settlements, home to about 300 people.
