More specialist rescue crews have joined the search for a bushwalker missing in dense and challenging terrain for 11 days.
As many as 50 specialist search operators from across New South Wales have been deployed to help find Hadi Nazari, 23, who was last seen on Boxing Day.
The experienced Victorian hiker was descending the challenging Hannels Spur trail in NSW’s Kosciuszko national park with friends.
The three men planned to meet at the Geehi campground but he failed to arrive.
The large-scale search involving NSW police, the State Emergency Service, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Ambulance and volunteers has intensified, with six rescue and bomb disposal unit specialist police officers winched into the bushland by aircraft to access remote areas more quickly.
Six specially trained volunteers were planning to camp to further extend the search, which resumed on Sunday.
More than 300 people have searched for Nazari since he went missing, Riverina police district Acting Supt Jill Gibson said on Saturday.
“Our focus and efforts continue to be finding Hadi and returning him to his family,” she said.
The weekend’s hot and humid conditions added to the difficulties searchers faced, she said.
Rubbish and hiking poles believed to belong to Nazari were found near the Kosciuszko River on Tuesday, narrowing the search area.
An experienced bushwalking guide, Doug Chatten, said the area was unforgiving, particularly for anyone who ventured away from the trail.
“If you’re off the track, it’s bloody tough country,” he said. “It’s no easy walk, that’s for sure … you’d be a hard person to find.”
The Hannels Spur trail, with its 1800m elevation change, is one of Australia’s most difficult bushwalking routes.
