Search criticism rejected

Press, 21 April 1984, Page 3

Search criticism rejected

PA Timaru The police have rejected criticism from the wife of a German climber, Horst Bergmann, who is thought to have died in the Mount Cook area. Mrs Bergmann, who left Mount Cook after waiting three weeks for news of her husband, asserted that nobody had made a thorough investigation to find the missing man. She said she was disturbed by several aspects of the search procedure. arintendent J. W. rs, commander of the Timaru police district, said on Thursday that efforts to find Mr Bergmann went far beyond • those normally made when looking for a missing person. Park board staff made

two ground searches, two searches were made from a commercial helicopter, and another was made from an R.N.Z.A.F. helicopter. “The police compiled many statements and spent many hours following up numerous reported sightings,” Mr Wooders said. “It is a tragedy that a foreign national has probably lost his life in a mountaineering accident, but in New Zealand, especially about Mount Cook, this is becoming all too frequent. “Mr Bergmann was a loner, and this made the police task in tracing him difficult,” he said. “Park Rangers provide a service to assist climbers’ safety, but there is no way that they can guarantee safety.”