Pair unable to remember Piha fall

Two men who nearly died after a fall from Lion Rock at Piha Beach on Auckland's west coast nearly three weeks ago have been unable to tell police what happened.

The two men, aged 18 and 31, were in a critical condition when they were loaded onto a rescue helicopter early in the morning at Piha on February 24.

One was still in hospital and the other had been transferred to a neurological unit for rehabilitation, said Detective Sergeant Murray Free of Waitakere police.

Neither man could say what happened but it was hoped in time they would recover their memories.

"They have been in the intensive care unit and assessed by top neurosurgeons."

He said the human brain was "quite an amazing thing" and in similar cases people had recovered their memories.

"They both nearly died. We are waiting for medical specialists to get back to us as to when we can speak to them."

Both men had been drinking when they fell 60 metres from Lion Rock.

Mr Free would not say if police believed drugs were also involved.

He said it was not possible to say if anything criminal had happened when the men fell.

The two men walked past warning signs and a barrier warning of erosion danger and fell onto rocks from near the top of Lion Rock.

They were in a group of seven who drove to Piha from a house in west Auckland.

- NZPA