A father who pulled his son out of the deadly Abbey Caves trip at the last minute because he was concerned about the weather was “horrified” to find out th
A father, who stopped his son going on a fatal school caving expedition because of safety concerns says the trip should never have gone ahead and someone needs to be held responsible.
Whangārei Boys High Student, Karnin Ahorangi Petera, died on Tuesday in the Abbey Caves.
Fourteen others and two adults got out. The trip went ahead despite forecast bad weather, including torrential rain.
The School and its board are refusing to answer questions about what safety assessments were carried out who signed off on the expeditition.
Helicopter Pilot Scotty Booth's son was supposed to be on the trip too. He told us the family filled out a generic permission form to cover off all school excursions back in Feburary.
But he emailed the school the night before Tuesday's fatal trip - concerned about heavy rain on the way and when he got no reply he told his son not to go.
Scotty Booth believes the tragic death was preventable.