Photos show burns victim saw signs

Rotorua District Council Parks and Recreation manager Garry Page at the scene last week where a man was badly burned after falling into a hot pool. Photo/File

Photos of a geothermal hot pool burns victim who blamed a lack of warning signs indicate he knew beforehand the area was dangerous, say Rotorua police.

The photos show the man and his travelling companion posing on the lip of a steaming mud pool and next to warning signs. The ground subsequently collapsed and the man was seriously burned.

The images were on a camera handed in as lost property. Police have shown them to Rotorua District Council who said the tourists' original story had been found to be "completely false".

The pair claimed there was inadequate warning signs at the geothermal area behind Puarenga Park.

The man said in Saturday's Rotorua Daily Post he was not "a risk-taking tourist" and that poor warning signs were to blame for burns suffered when the ground collapsed beneath his feet.

The pair couldn't be reached for comment yesterday about the photos.

Police Acting Area Commander Inspector Tim Anderson said the council had been vindicated.

"When people hand in lost property, such as cameras, our photographers go through them and often reunite them with their owners," said Mr Anderson.

"We rehome these across the country.

"In the process of doing that we've come across a man who was complaining about Rotorua District Council, saying there should have been warning signs, yet we found images of him and his partner posing beside the warning sign. There are also photos of them sticking their hands in hot water. This clearly shows they knew there was an inherent risk and one which was clearly signposted."

The pair were walking on the walking track behind Puarenga Park, off Te Ngae Rd, on January 4 when the ground beneath the man collapsed under his feet. He suffered serious burns to his legs and has since been discharged from Waikato Hospital.

In a statement released to the Rotorua Daily Post last week, the man's girlfriend said the pair were upset at being made to look like "imprudent tourists who ran a risk" and those who administered the park had a huge responsibility for what happened.

She said they wanted honesty around the incident because they didn't want to see it happening to anyone else.

Mr Anderson said police wanted to give balance to the pair's statement.

"When a warning sign has been put in place, take notice of it."

Council Parks and Recreation manager Garry Page said he was "disappointed" to view the photos after dealing with the couple.

"I was absolutely amazed to see the blatant disregard for the signs that are there and the areas they've gone into. It could have been a lot worse than what they're dealing with now. They were on the slippery mud that forms around the mud pool, right on the actual lip, had he gone in there it would have been a lot more serious.

"The story they painted is completely false and these pictures prove that." The Rotorua Daily Post contacted Waikato Hospital where the man had been a patient but was told he had been discharged. A Rotorua Daily Post email had been forwarded to them.