Bodies of British father and son recovered after landslide on ‘extremely dangerous’ Australian trail

Questioned raised about whether hiking route should have been closed due to heavy rain

A helicopter recovers the bodies at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, Australia, on Tuesday (EPA)

The bodies of a British man and his son have been recovered after they were killed in a landslide while on holiday in Australia.

Authorities have launched a “comprehensive review” into whether the walking trail in Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, should have been closed earlier due to heavy rainfall.

A woman, 50, and a 14-year-old boy suffered severe head and abdominal injuries in the same incident at Wentworth Falls and remain in a critical condition.

A fifth family member, a 15-year-old girl, survived the incident on Monday but was treated for shock.

New South Wales (NSW) National Parks and Wildlife Service had inspected the track in the run-up to the tragedy but had decided to keep it open.

The entrance to the walking trail where a landslide killed a British father and son (AP)

In a statement, the department said the service “has a world-class program in place to assess geotechnical risks and maintain the safety of tracks and other infrastructure to the greatest extent practicable”.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict and eliminate all natural risks such as rockslides, which can occasionally occur around the state,” it added.

Dominic Perrottet, the premier of New South Wales, who described the accident as “tragic”, indicated that he would seek advice on whether the hiking trail should have been shut earlier.

“These tragedies occur too often, so anything we can do to keep people safe, we will,” he told ABC on Tuesday.

Police work at the start of the walking route at Wentworth Falls (AP)

“The Blue Mountains is a place where people love to go trekking. It’s one of the wonders of the world, but when tragedies occur it would be remiss of governments not to act.”

Stewart Clarke, from NSW Ambulance, said the deaths occurred in an “extremely dangerous, extremely unstable environment”.

“It is terribly sad to have lost two lives here, and my heart goes out to the families and the survivors of this horrific ordeal who have witnessed what is certainly a traumatic event,” he added.

The British High Commission said it is supporting the family of the victims