A teenage girl, 15, hiked for 90 minutes to raise the alarm after her family had been caught by a landslide killing her father and brother, in Australia.
The family were trekking at Wentworth Falls, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney where heavy rain had made the conditions treacherous when earth gave way and hit them on Monday afternoon.
The 49-year-old father and his nine-year-old son were killed and the mother, 50, and a second son, aged 14, are fighting for their lives in hospital.
It has now emerged that the daughter, 15, who was not injured, hiked for an hour and half to try and find help.
She was described as “extremely distressed” by police and being treated for shock in hospital.
The mother and the 14-year-old boy, both suffered head and abdominal injuries and needed to be sedated before they were winched from the landslide in an operation that involved two helicopters.
Blue Mountains Area Command acting superintendent John Nelson said the bodies of the 49-year-old father and nine-year-old boy were still at the scene of the landslide on Tuesday morning.
Speaking to radio station 2GB, Mr Nelson said emergency services were focused on caring for the two critically injured members of the family yesterday.
"That obviously takes some time, it's a good 90-minute walk into where the landslip had occurred and the site is quite dangerous," he said.
"They had to make that site as safe as possible for the rescue squads to provide that care, so hence we're still in the recovery phase for the two people who didn't survive."
He said the 50-year-old woman and 14-year-old boy were in a critical condition at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.
The family were on holiday from the UK when tragedy struck, police said.
There has been heavy rain for several weeks in the region which led to The National Parks and Wildlife Service to close some parts but the area on the Wentworth Falls track where the accident happened was not closed.
It was a warm and sunny day on Monday when the family were trekking and they appeared to have received no warning before the landslide hit.
“This is absolutely heartbreaking for all involved and a truly tragic ending to what I’m sure was meant to be a pleasant day out,” Chief superintendent Stewart Clarke, told media, reported 7news.com.au.
“It is terribly sad to have lost two lives here today and my heart goes out to the families and the survivors of this horrific ordeal who have witnessed what is certainly a traumatic event.
“This was a really complex and delicate rescue operation for our crews who were working to access patients in rugged bushland and were navigating unstable ground.”
The Wentworth Falls path is very steep and given a level four difficulty by the National Park and Wildlife Service, meaning it is recommended for experienced walkers.
Blue Mountains get four million tourists a year, the most of any national park in Australia.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: "We are providing consular support to the family of a British couple and their children following an incident in Australia.
"We are in contact with the local authorities."
