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Dramatic escape in Waitakere tragedy

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 5 Feb 2018, 1:17PM
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Dramatic escape in Waitakere tragedy

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 5 Feb 2018, 1:17PM

One of the boys who escaped a swollen stream in the Waitakere Ranges in the weekend storm arrived at the Waitakere Golf Club "shaking and shivering" as he raised the alarm.

"It was obvious he had been in the water," club manager Josh Ritchie told the Herald today. "He was pretty shaken-up and worried."

West Auckland teenagers Sosi Turagaiviu and Mitch Woolley, both 17, died after being swept away in a flash flood in the Cascade Falls area on Saturday.

They were part of a group with three other Massey High School students - Mitch had just started an engineering apprenticeship.

Mitch, his twin brother Denver and Sosi were swept away but Denver managed to grab hold of a tree until he was winched to safety by the Westpac rescue helicopter.

The other two had made it to the river bank and one ran up to the road to get help.

Ritchie told the Herald the freezing teen flagged down two tourists driving by, who stopped at the Waitakere Golf Club to raise the alarm.

Mitch Woolley, 17 years old, swept away while trying to cross a swollen river in West Auckland's Waitakere Ranges. Photo / Instagram

Mitch Woolley, 17 years old, swept away while trying to cross a swollen river in West Auckland's Waitakere Ranges. Photo / Instagram

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