Mangatepopo Canyon disaster

The Mangatepopo Canyon disaster was a flash flood that occurred on 15 April 2008 in the central North Island of New Zealand. Students and staff from Elim Christian College were at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre during a gorge trip. The incident resulted in the death of six students and one teacher. It took place at the Mangatepopo stream in the Tongariro National Park.

Summary

On 15 April 2008 approximately 40 students were on a school camp at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre. The group was from Elim Christian College in Auckland. Ten students, one teacher, and one instructor were caught in the river when the water level began to rise rapidly due to a thunderstorm. The group took shelter on a ledge. After some time, the instructor made the decision to leave the ledge as she feared that the students would be at risk to hypothermia if they stayed on the ledge, believing the river would rise even higher. The plan was for the instructor, Jodie Sullivan, to go first with Ashley Smith and then throw a line to the students as they came down at five-minute intervals. Sullivan and Smith both made it safely to the bank of the left of the river. No one left on the ledge had a watch which made the timings much more difficult. Kish Proctor went first, he did not catch the rope thrown to him or he lost his hold on the rope and went over the dam, but he was later rescued. Peter Shiih was able to catch the rope and be pulled to safety. Portia Mc Phail, Natasha Bray, and Tara Gregory were unable to catch the rope and went over the dam and drowned. Floyd Fernandes and Anthony Mulder were attached to each other and neither were able to reach the rope, It is assumed that they were too far away from Sullivan and both drowned. Sarah Brooks was unable to catch the rope and went over the dam, but survived. Antony Mc Clean, the teacher, attached himself to student Tom Hsu. Antony was initially able to catch the rope, but later lost hold of it and they both drowned.

The current proved too strong for most of the group. A total of six students and one teacher died in the event,^[1][2] which became a major international news story.^[3][4]A later in-depth investigation found significant failings at the centre which led to the disaster. Consequently, the centre was fined $480,000 for health and safety breaches. The flash flood had one of the highest death tolls on a school camp in a western country in recent history.^[5]The principal of the college, Murry Brunton was awarded a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for the way he led his community through the disaster.^[6]

Names of the victims

Students: Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Huan (Tom) Hsu, Anthony Mulder, Floyd Fernandes and Tara Gregory, all aged 16

Teacher: Antony McClean, aged 29

Dramatization

The events of the disaster were documented in the 2018 made for TV movie In a Flash. The film started Emma Fenton.^[7][8]

Significant findings from the inquiry

It is believed that if any one of these failings was addressed, the disaster would not have happened.^[9][1] The Centre's Report lists almost 200 recommendations and learnings from the disaster.

• The weather warning left out the critical word "thunderstorms".
• If the group had stayed on the ledge, the water would have receded after 30-60 minutes.
• High staff turnover at the Centre led to poor record keeping and awareness of earlier safety incidents, including one fatality, over the past forty years.
• In 1977 an instructor was killed in the gorge. It seems that Jodie Sullivan was not aware of this.
• Two instructors should have been present for the trip up the gorge.
• Tom Hsu had cerebral palsy. This was not disclosed on the medical form, although Sullivan was made aware of it.
• Imprecise communications between Sullivan and the centre lead to confusion about whether the group had gone into the gorge or not.
• The disaster could have been averted if both the teacher and the instructor each had a radio so they could communicate.
• Inaccurate or incomplete permission slips did not fully disclose the students' swimming ability.
• The students were told to leave their cell phones at the campsite, which limited their ability to call for help.
• Overconfidence of the instructor was a factor which led to the deaths associated with the event.
• The centre did not have an up to date weather report.
• Although the activities were listed as challenge by choice, there was no alternative activity for the students who did not want to participate.
• The centre had a reputation for activities in “rain or shine” which significantly increased the risk and made cancelling an activity harder.

References