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Singapore-based lawyer, 9-year-old son holidaying in Australia killed in landslide

SYDNEY — Australian police on Tuesday (April 5) recovered the bodies of a British man and his nine-year-old son, killed when a rockslide hit their family while walking in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

The entrance to the walking track where a landslide hit Mehraab Nazir's family at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains on April 5, 2022.

The entrance to the walking track where a landslide hit Mehraab Nazir's family at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains on April 5, 2022.

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SYDNEY — Australian police on Tuesday (April 5) recovered the bodies of a British man and his nine-year-old son, killed when a rockslide hit their family while walking in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

The landslide struck the holidaying family of five on Monday, killing the 49-year-old father and his son and critically injuring the 50-year-old mother and another 14-year-old son, police said.  

Rescuers reportedly took more than an hour to reach the site, where they recovered the bodies from dense bushland.

Local media reports identified the man as Mehraab Nazir, a Singapore-based lawyer.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mehraab, a partner at Watson Farley & Williams Singapore, was visiting Australia with his family on holiday at the time.

The mother, identified by ABC News as Ana Nazir, was winched out of the scene together with her son at Wentworth Falls by helicopter. They remain in critical condition in hospital after undergoing emergency surgery for serious head and abdominal injuries, said ABC News.

Rescuers treated the couple's 15-year-old daughter for shock and transferred her to a Sydney children's hospital, where she remained under observation on Tuesday.

She was being assisted by the British consulate and welfare services.

According to ABC News, the 15-year-old, who was unhurt, manage to flag down other bushwalkers. She also dialed 000, Australia's main emergency service number.

"I don't know where we are," she told the operator, before a massive emergency operation commenced.

Blue Mountains police were investigating the landslide and a report would be prepared for the coroner on the two deaths, police said.

All but two lookouts in the Blue Mountains National Park were closed to the public from 9am on Wednesday, reported the Sydney Morning Herald, with more wet weather forecast, raising concerns about further landslides.

"It is with the greatest sadness that we must confirm that our dear friend and colleague Mehraab Nazir, a partner in our Singapore office, tragically lost his life in a landslide in Australia earlier this week alongside his young son," a spokesman for the law firm told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We will be remembering and honouring Mehraab; however, with the surviving members of the family in serious conditions or in shock, we ask that you respect their privacy and grief at this incredibly difficult time."

On Watson Farley & Williams's website, Mehraab is described as specialising in "complex cross-border finance transactions with a particular focus on the transportation and energy sectors", covering maritime, rail and aviation.

CNA has contacted Watson Farley & Williams for more information.

Sydney has experienced heavy rains in recent weeks, with many suburbs in the city's west devastated by flash flooding and heavy storms.

The New South Wales national parks and wildlife service said the track the family was on had been inspected in the days before the rockslide.

All tracks in the Wentworth Falls area were closed "until further notice", it said in a statement. CNA

For more reports like this, visit cna.asia.

Related topics

Australia landslide

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