In 2022, there were weeks of heavy rain in the Blue Mountains. It rained almost every day. There was a lot of damage to roads and walking tracks. It was during a brief break in the weather that 49-year-old British tourist Mehraab Nazir and his family visited the Blue Mountains from Singapore on holiday. On 4 April 2022 they were walking on Wentworth Pass when there was a landslip above them, and he and his nine-year-old son were crushed by falling rocks. Mehraab’s 15-year-old daughter, though traumatised, was unhurt, and was able to call for help about 1:40 pm. His wife, 50-year-old Anastasia Nazir, and their other 14-year-old son, suffered serious head and abdominal injuries and were taken by helicopter to hospital.
Police Rescue and Ambulance Special Operations responded. Some had to spend the night with the bodies of the father and son before the recovery operation the following day.
The weeks of heavy rain preceding the landslip, left the area “extremely dangerous and unstable” for rescuers. The track had recently been closed, and only re-opened that week. National Parks officers had checked the track shortly beforehand and judged it safe. It had been scheduled to be closed again later in the week for maintenance work.
Rescue Operators Sergeant Dallas Atkinson, Senior Constable Casson Levy, Senior Constable Stephen Booth, Leading Senior Constable Andrew Van De Brug and Senior Constable Sean Flanagan received the Nathan Deutschbein Memorial Award for the professionalism and bravery displayed on the day.
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