A boy’s body is found in a cave in New Zealand as a school trip turns into tragedy
A body has been recovered from Abbey Caves, where a New Zealand high school student went missing during severe storms.
Search and rescue teams found the body late Tuesday, after responding to an emergency call just before 10:30 am.
A group of Whangarei Boys High School students, accompanied by two supervisors, continued a caving trip despite severe thunderstorm warnings from MetService.
Whangarei experienced flash flooding on Tuesday morning after 60 millimeters of rain in the three hours to noon.
The student’s missing has caused consternation and anger in the Northland community, with many questioning why the journey continued.
A Whangārei Boys High School student goes missing from Abbey Caves in Whangārei. (Google Maps)
Local media reports that the group of 15 Year 11 students was supposed to go rock climbing but changed plans due to the weather.
School principal Karen Gilbert-Smith said an investigation would take place after the “hugely disturbing” event.
“Over time, we will try to understand how this situation came about, but for now, I ask that we remain united as a WBHS community and provide support where needed,” she wrote in a Facebook post that drew hundreds of angry comments.
Superintendent Tony Hill said police had planned to call off the search at 5pm on Tuesday but continued well into the night with the help of specialist equipment from Auckland.
“We recognize that this event has been deeply distressing to the school and the wider community, and that the public will have a number of questions,” he said.
“At the moment, the police focus is on supporting those affected, and we remind people to please not make any assumptions about what happened.”
The death comes after storms battered much of the North Island on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Auckland has declared a state of emergency after flash flooding brought traffic to a halt and caused accidents.
About 120 properties are being inspected after flood damage, with more than 300 emergency calls.
Weather warnings were lifted for NZ’s largest city on Wednesday, but remain in the Bay of Plenty and Marlborough.