SYDNEY — The body of a young English tourist who died after falling from a waterfall has been found in bushland surrounding the Blue Mountains, a popular tourist attraction 60 km west of Sydney.
The 20-year-old man was walking with friends at Wentworth Falls on Sunday afternoon when he lost his footing and plunged over the edge of the falls, falling several meters.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), a witness told ABC radio she had seen the group gathering on the rocks.
“Then they went down to the next one and I knew something was going to happen,” she said. Adding, “we just saw them all panic and a 20-year-old boy fell over 100m down the waterfall.”
One of the man’s friends subsequently went to get help. After receiving the emergency call, local police and ambulance teams headed out to the area.
At first, paramedics were only able to establish where the young man had died, but high winds prevented a helicopter crew from lowering on to scene and retrieving his body.
Another flight crew, PolAir, were also on hand but were pulled off the operation due to the adverse weather conditions.
A guard was placed on the scene overnight on Sunday.
At around 8.00 am on Monday, a team of Rescue Squad officers walked into the bushland at the Falls and were able to winch up the young man’s body at around 12.30 pm, reports.
The foot team worked with a PolAir crew on the retrieval operation. Police have said a report will now be prepared for the coroner, said NewsAu .
The young man was on holiday in Australia from the UK.
The Blue Mountains is mainly a sandstone plateau and the area contains gorges up to 760 meters deep.
