Website of the YearA boy is recovering in Dunedin Hospital after suffering serious injuries in a 20m fall down a cliff at the side of a track in Mt Aspiring National Park yesterday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the Rob Roy Glacier walking track, 54km west of Wanaka, off the Wanaka-Mt Aspiring Rd, at 2.35pm.
A police spokeswoman said a search and rescue team was deployed from Wanaka and a rescue helicopter was dispatched from Te Anau to fly the boy to Dunedin Hospital.
A couple from Noosa, in Australia, who were on the track at the time said the boy had been hiking with his father and brother.
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Advertise with NZME.The group was about halfway through the four- to five-hour return walk when the incident occurred.
The group told the couple the child was standing near the edge of a narrow precipitous section of track when it gave way and he fell about 20m into a ravine.
His father was able to reach him.
The boy appeared to be aged about 8 to 10, the couple said.
He was being treated by a search and rescue team member and comforted by his father.
A police statement said the boy received serious injuries in the fall.