Archived content: This media release was accurate on the date of publication.
Date: 24 November 2018
He Rāhui
He aitua! He aitua!
Ka papaki te tai o te atarau, ka huri aku kamo ki te tihi o Tongariro ki ngā hīhī o te rā e piata mai ana. Aue, taukuri e!
Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro, Ngāti Tuwharetoa and DOC acknowledge with sadness the fatality on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing today.
A man walking the track passed away this morning due to a medical event.
A rāhui has been placed on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and will be lifted at sunrise on Tuesday 27 November 2018.
DOC Operations Manager for Tongariro, Bhrent Guy, said DOC supported the rāhui.
“We are asking people to respect the rāhui and not use the Tongariro Alpine Crossing until Tuesday morning.”
A rāhui is a physical and spiritual protection mechanism used to manage human activity around a site where there has been loss of life. It sets a temporary prohibition in the rāhui area and limits access for that period.
The rāhui acknowledges the death and is a way to express sympathy to the whānau of the deceased. It provides time for tapu (sacredness) to dissipate following the death.
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