• Source: 1 NEWS
The families of two men who died while climbing Mount Taranaki have paid tribute to their loved ones.
Your playlist will load after this ad Peter Kirkwood,33, and Richard Phillips, 46, perished on the mountain. Source: 1 NEWS
It comes as rescue teams this morning recovered the bodies of Richard Phillips, 46, and Dr Peter Brian Kirkwood, 33, from the mountain.
Police said they were called to reports a climber had fallen near the summit about 10pm on Tuesday, May 4.
Richard Phillips family say he was a man dedicated to his family – his partner Jacqueline and their teenage daughters Freya and Indy.
The bodies of two climbers are being recovered off Mount Taranaki following an incident overnight.
The bodies of two climbers were located on Mt Taranaki just after midnight (file picture).
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The pair were from Christchurch and worked for the environmental and engineering consultancy Tonkin and Taylor.
In a statement on its website, group managing director Dr Tim Fisher said the company was notified this morning that two of its treasured people were invovled in the accident.
Dr Fisher said the company s priority now was to support the two men s families and staff.
He thanked Taranaki Police and Search and Rescue for their service and support.
Crew on board a helicopter, dispatched as part of a search and rescue operation, found the two climbers dead shortly before midnight. Their bodies could not be retrieved at the time, and conditions on the mountain stymied efforts by police alpine rescue experts to bring them out on Wednesday. They were recovered from the mountain, with the help of helicopter, shortly after 8am on Thursday.
Anthony Wedgwood/Stuff
Richard Phillips and Peter Kirkwood died while trying to summit Taranaki Maunga. Phillips’ grieving partner requested privacy when approached for comment on Wednesday night, referring inquiries to Tonkin and Taylor. Tonkin and Taylor group managing director Dr Tim Fisher said those at the company were mourning the loss of “two of our treasured people”.
Less than a fortnight after posting a tribute to a friend killed in a rockfall, Richard Phillips died near the summit of Taranaki Maunga, along with his colleague Peter Kirkwood.
Less than a fortnight after posting a tribute to a friend killed in a rockfall, Richard Phillips died near the summit of Taranaki Maunga, along with his colleague Peter Kirkwood.