Father and son injured in 100m fall

Update 10.25AM: The father and son who were seriously injured after falling 100 metres off a cliff at Omanawa Falls remain in Tauranga Hospital.

The Tauranga-based Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter at the scene. Photos by: Kutz Photography.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board communications manager Diana Marriott says the 38-year-old father is in a serious but stable condition in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. She says his 12-year-old son is in a stable condition.

The Tauranga-based TrustPower TECT Rescue Helicopter was called to the falls, south of Tauranga, about 4pm on Saturday after the father and son fell off a walking track.

Rescue helicopter pilot Liam Brettkelly says it's understood the boy fell first and the father fell while going to his aid.

'The father received serious back and shoulder injuries in the fall, his son received serious head injuries.”

Liam says the pair was winched using the Port of Tauranga rescue winch from near where they had landed.

Both were airlifted to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition.

Tauranga Fire Station senior station officer Phil Price says the area was gated off due to an underground tunnel with steep steps to the bottom of the falls.

He says there shouldn't have been public access to the area as it had been deemed hazardous.

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