The search continues for missing hiker Hadi Nazari (inset). Photo: NSW Police.
Authorities remain “very hopeful” as the extensive multiagency search for missing hiker Hadi Nazari continues through dense bushland in the remote Geehi area in the Kosciuszko National Park.
A small campfire was found on Sunday (5 January) along with several items that were confirmed to belong to the 23-year-old Melbourne University student.
Mr Nazari was last seen by friends on Boxing Day and NSW Police confirmed that the operation would continue until they were “satisfied”.
Riverina District Police Superintendent Andrew Spliet said Mr Nazari was equipped with a tent and sleeping bag and that expert advice on survivability was promising due to the potential access to water.
“That’s the reason why we’re still out here. We’re still actively engaged. All of our partner agencies who are assisting us have got people out there that are really keen to get a resolution with this for the families,” he said.
“He’s got a history of hiking around the place, so he’s aware of these surroundings, and he has got some capability to protect himself from the elements.”
NSW Police established a command post on 27 December and teams from the Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) and State Emergency Service (SES) have joined NSW and Victorian police to scour the terrain.
“Since the commencement of the search operation we’ve had up to 300 people in total in the field conducting searches,” said Supt Spliet.
“We’ve also had NSW police and volunteers on horseback. We’ve had police dogs, search dogs, and VRA dogs out there as well.
“We’ve had air assets that have been up there looking around for the missing person, as well as winching people in so very, very comfortable that we’ve got sufficient capability and capacity to continue with the search.
“The terrain is very dense, a lot of thick bushland and growth, and also very steep, so it’s quite uncomfortable for the searchers.”
Specialist bushwalkers from VRA Rescue NSW on the ground in Kosciuszko National Park. Photo: VRA Rescue.
Supt Spliet said the discovery of rubbish and hiking poles on New Year’s Eve and further items as recently as Sunday (5 January) had helped to focus the search.
“We found a fire scene, a little campfire, as well as a lighter in a camera case and a camera that belongs to Mr Nazari,” he confirmed.
“We’re making some inquiries in relation to trying to determine how long ago that little campfire was lit and that’ll give us … some type of timeline to when he was last in that specific area.”
Supt Spliet said several of Mr Nazari’s family members from Melbourne had been assisting in the search and that morale remained high despite the duration and challenges of the search.
“We’ve got a great bunch of people here that are very supportive. They’re very actively engaged. We’ve had some minor injuries with people as well being out there in the bush hiking around, but we’ve got a lot of really good people out there that are very confident and very upbeat about the tasks given to them,” he said.
“We’re still detecting items of interest that belong to him and I think that’s a real credit and shows how thorough the search it has been, that we’re actually locating those very, very small items in such a large, dense bushland.”
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