A mother and her son were critically injured after a "massive" tree fell on five tourists in Queenstown yesterday, but they're now in a stable condition.
The pair were visiting from Wellington.
Shotover Jet remains closed today, as security barriers remained in place. Photo: RNZ / Tim Brown
Yesterday, bystanders lifted a tree off five tourists, including a family of four with two preschoolers, at the Shotover Jet base in Queenstown.
Five people were sitting underneath a willow tree on bank of the Shotover river near Shotover Jet base at Arthurs Point Road when it fell about 1pm.
All of the patients are in Dunedin Hospital. One child is in a serious and stable condition. Two people (one adult and one child) are in stable conditions. Two people have now been discharged.
All the tourists were conscious when emergency services arrived on the scene.
The victims were mix of foreign nationals and New Zealand citizens, but all were residing in New Zealand, police said.
RNZ reporter Tim Brown told Morning Report when he arrived at the scene emergencies services had already left and that the felled tree had been significant in size and that there were high winds.
"What was apparent was just the size of this tree, it is massive. It's a surprise that anyone walked away from this, let alone all five according to reports, were still conscious at the scene," he said.
Emergency services at the scene of the fallen tree that injured five people. Photo: Otago Daily Times
Shotover Jet remains closed today and security barriers remain in place.
Worksafe is now investigating the incident.
Detective senior sergeant Malcolm Inglis had earlier said police were investigating the cause of the tree's collapse, which took place in high winds.
"We're just making sure that this is an accident and there's nothing been neglected or done wrong in relation to that tree to have caused this," he said.
Sergeant Inglis also praised bystanders and Shotover Jet staff for lifting limbs of the tree off the tourists.
"[They] did a tremendous job in assisting in lifting the tree prior to emergency services arriving and rendering first aid to the family who were quite badly injured at that stage."
Mr Inglis said wind was a major factor and it was a relatively old tree.
