'Just glad we are all safe': Man speaks out after Mt Cook river crossing attempt goes bad

A river crossing near Mt Cook goes wrong.

A member of a group whose vehicle was nearly washed away during an attempted river crossing says he is just glad everybody is safe.

Charlie Dougherty posted a video of the incident on Tik Tok which generated more than 20,000 likes on the social media platform.

#WATCH A kiwi river crossing gone wrong down in Mt Cook...🚘🌊 Like our page to see more of New Zealand 👍 Explore Local NZ

Posted by Explore Local NZ on Saturday, October 17, 2020

In the video, the group attempt to cross a river near Mt Cook, Canterbury, in their truck when it is overcome with water and begins to sink.

The truck is later towed out of the river.

"I'm just glad we are all safe. it's a bit of a wake up to not underestimate rivers.

"We lost more than the truck, it was also all our gear that was in it, our hunting gear, camera gear and a phone," Dougherty said.

He said the problem was they were slightly lower than where they should have crossed the river.

"It's part of the risk of river crossing. I wasn't too scared, just stayed calm for the other two and made sure everyone was out including my dog."

Dougherty said everyone in the group calmly did what they needed to keep each other safe

The video received more than 200,000 views in just one day along with nearly 3000 comments on Facebook.