Coastguard North Canterbury's swift water rescue team joined a multi-agency search yesterday after one of two trampers was swept downstream while attempting a river crossing on the Cass-Lagoon Saddle Track, near Craigieburn Forest Park. Police called in Coastguard just after 2pm as the search centred on a stretch of river roughly four to five kilometres upstream of the State Highway 73 bridge. The man has not been located and Police and Land Search and Rescue teams resumed the search this morning.
A river crossing goes wrong
According to Christchurch Police Search and Rescue's Detective Cam Ellis, "while attempting a river crossing, the man has fallen and been swept downstream." His companion made his way back to State Highway 73, where a passing motorist stopped to help and contacted Police; he suffered minor injuries and was taken to Christchurch Hospital.
Six volunteers, one specialised rescue boat
With darkness closing in yesterday, the operation grew to include Police, Police dog units, Land Search and Rescue, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter (flown by Garden City Helicopters), Main Divide Helicopters and Coastguard North Canterbury. Six Coastguard volunteers travelled to the scene, three crewing the rescue vessel Blackwell Rescue on the river itself, the rest working the bank. Crew located a beanie believed to belong to the missing man, helping narrow the search area along the difficult terrain. Nobody was found, and the search continued into the night before resuming this morning under Police and Land Search and Rescue.
The boat behind the search
Blackwell Rescue gives Coastguard North Canterbury a purpose-built platform for searching shallow, fast-flowing rivers, built specifically for the conditions common across Canterbury's braided waterways. Coastguard describes the 4.7m inflatable, built by Outback Boats and fitted with a rollover-protection arch, as the first vessel of its kind in New Zealand for swift water and flood rescue. It joined the unit's fleet in 2024. Coastguard North Canterbury is Coastguard's only swift water rescue team nationally.
Search continues into a second day
Police say Land Search and Rescue and Police teams are working through snow, flooded rivers and alpine terrain, conditions Ellis has described as hazardous. Coastguard North Canterbury has thanked the volunteers who responded yesterday, as well as the member of the public who helped raise the alarm.
