STUDENTS FOUND AFTER GOING MISSING IN WEST AUCKLAND BUSH

Five high-school-age students had to be rescued by police after getting lost deep in the West Auckland bush overnight.

The students were on a school tramping trip in torrential rain.

Three’s AM Show reported five students aged 16 to 17 started their trip from Auckland’s Piha on Monday.

Emergency services were alerted when they did not exit the bush at Whatipū yesterday afternoon.

A police spokesperson said police, land search and rescue and the police air support unit found the students in the bush just after midnight.

“The group has since been accompanied to safety and no injuries were reported,” the spokesperson said.

Auckland shift commander Inspector Kerry Watson told AM the teachers called the police “promptly” when they failed to return.

“That’s the reality of when you’re working in the outdoors, sometimes things happen that you don’t plan for,” he said.

Watson said the students were taught to stay still if they became lost, which is what they did.

“I really can’t say the school has done anything wrong.”

2024-07-02T20:49:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd