1997 Thredbo Landslide - Stuart Diver

Stuart Diver

At 5:37 am on 2 August, digging finished and rescue workers dropped sound equipment into a hole they had been digging, as was the standard procedure. This time, they detected some movement underneath the concrete slab.

Five minutes later rescue expert Steve Hurst, who used monitoring equipment to confirm the movement, yelled out "Rescue team working overhead, can anyone hear me?" to which a voice called back "I can hear you." When asked if he had sustained any injuries, he replied "No, but my feet are bloody cold!"

He was identified as ski instructor Stuart Diver. A pipe was then passed down the gap to provide warmer air which would increase his low body temperature. Another tube was put down which carried fluids which he could have two sips from every 20 minutes.

Steve Hirst explained to the press that Diver said he was uninjured, just extremely cold. Listen.WAV Police Superintendent Charlie Sanderson explained to the press the difficulty of extracting Diver because they could not risk the concrete slab falling on top of him.

His position was two metres below the surface, beneath three concrete slabs. He was lying in water, wearing only a pair of underpants. Due to the risk of the overlaying concrete crushing Diver, rescuers began digging a 16 metre long tunnel from the eastern side of the slope. Five hours later, rescuers had removed enough of the rubble for them to be able to touch Diver. Paul Featherstone was the paramedic who kept talking to Diver for 11 hours until he was freed. When the site had to be evacuated each time the rubble shifted, Paul would stay below ground to keep Stuart talking and distract him.

Stuart Diver was pulled from the wreckage later in the evening. His first words were as he breathed the pure mountain air, "That sky's fantastic!" He had lain trapped for 65 hours in a small space between two concrete slabs beside the body of his wife, Sally, who had died by drowning as a concrete beam had pinned her in a depression that had filled with water overnight.

The rescue effort continued after Diver had been found, now that rescue workers had hope that there would be more survivors. They did not find any, and the last body was recovered on the following Thursday.