A Danish hunter who died on the West Coast likely drowned after being swept away in a river crossing mishap after heavy rain in unfamiliar terrain, a coroner has found.
In findings released on Tuesday, Coroner Amelia Steel ruled that 21-year-old Jonas Legaard Sorensen died at Karangarua River near McTaggart Creek in Westland’s Tai Poutini National Park between June 7 and 11 in 2019.
Sorensen had walked to Cassels Hut, where he stayed for three nights with two other hunters who described him as being well-equipped. The coroner noted he was regarded as a very experienced hunter for his age.
They decided to leave because of the bad weather, but Sorensen told them he would wait it out at the hut because he anticipated conditions improving.
The coroner found that, at some point between June 6-10, Sorensen tried to walk out of the valley via the Karangarua track, before attempting to cross a side creek.
An Auckland-based friend, who had a copy of Sorenson’s itinerary, alerted emergency services on June 10 when he realised he was overdue.
Search teams found Sorensen’s body wedged between rocks in the Karangarua River the following day.
Sorensen arrived in New Zealand in January 2019 after completing his national military service in Denmark and was based in Auckland where he worked as an arborist.
A Mountain Safety Council report noted that Sorensen was a competent hunter but he was inexperienced with Westland conditions.
“South Westland terrain and weather in winter are significantly more challenging than the area of New Zealand he had previously hunted during summer and autumn,” the council said.
Conditions were dry when he walked into the valley but 22mm of rain was recorded at a nearby weather station on June 7 that would have made the creek unsafe to cross.
The coroner found Sorensen might not have fully appreciated the inherent risk in crossing McTaggart Creek. He was not experienced in the terrain and the creek was considered a high-risk crossing when there had been moderate to high rainfall.
“I find that Jonas has attempted to cross McTaggart Creek when it was highly likely to have been unsafe to do so and has been swept into the Karangarua River, still wearing his pack, he has been unable to regain his footing and became wedged between rocks in the river,” she said.
“I observe that it is incumbent on remoteness seekers, given the nature of activities undertaken and the environments they actively seek out, to familiarise themselves with known hazards and make judgements on their own capability to manage risk.”
The coroner did not make any recommendations, noting the Department of Conservation had updated its hunting safety web page to include river safety messages.
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