Loved ones gather at Elim Christian College to remember canyoning dead

Family and friends of the six students and their teacher who died in the Mangatepopo Gorge canyoning tragedy gathered in Auckland to remember their loved ones.

Elim Christian College students Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Tara Gregory, Tom Hsu, Anthony Mulder and Floyd Fernandes and teacher Tony McClean all died during an expedition being run by the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre on April 15, 2008.

A coronial inquiry in March 2010 found the group's instructor was not trained to take groups out of an escape route at a halfway point in the gorge, other instructors heard claps of thunder in the area and had seen a "brown raging torrent" coming out of the
gorge, and that "under-estimation of risks" and "complacency" contributed to the deaths.

The Mangatepopo River gorge dam, where Elim College students and a teacher drowned in a canyoning accident 10 years ago.

The group had been swept away down the flooding gorge and flung off a dam after their canyoning expedition became trapped by rapidly rising waters.

This morning, Auckland's Elim Christian College held a special assembly to remember those who died, and the survivors, two days out from the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

The service began with Janice Fernandes - Floyd's sister - leading the singing of Time Heals Everything. She was backed up by other siblings of those who died in the tragedy.

Family members of the dead in attendance included the Fernandes, the Brays, the Mulders, the McCleans and Tara Gregory's mother Catherine Linnen.

Also in attendance were police officers who worked on the tragedy and current pursuit centre boss Graham Seatter.

Elim Christian College principal Murray Burton conducted a panel featuring family members of the dead and teachers who worked at the school at the time of the event.

Andy Bray, Natasha's father, said it was important to show forgiveness and generosity to those who made mistakes leading up to the tragedy.

On April 15, 2008, 10 students and their teacher set out on the expedition which was led by instructor Jodie Sullivan – in just her third month at the centre and on her sixth trip into the gorge – in heavy rain.

One of the four surviving students, Kish Proctor, later described the track he walked on to commence the gorge as wet, "literally like a waterfall", saying "it was heavy, heavy rain. It wasn't like normal, it wasn't easing up, it was heavy rain".

The trip started at a dam and was a climb up the gorge to the halfway ledge and back – a distance of about 200m each way.

Coroner Christopher Devonport said in his 38-page report into the tragedy that there was an escape route at the halfway ledge that required abseiling to get out, but Sullivan had not been trained for it.

Sullivan had told the inquest how the group sang and prayed as cloudy water rose above their knees and they held on, unsteady on a ledge, with no immediate escape from the ledge.

Sullivan later decided to lead the group away down into the stream to try to get to the gorge's entrance about 50m away.

Only four students managed to get out of the raging waters alive.