The area commander of Mid South Canterbury police, Inspector Dave Gaskin, said atrocious weather conditions prevented initial attempts to reach the party in the remote Lake Tekapo region.
Fifty-nine-year-old father-of-two Braun-Elwert suffered a heart attack while on a climbing trip with Clark, her husband Peter Davis and others, including cabinet ministers David Parker and Damien O’Connor.
Clark and her party spent three hours unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate Braun-Elwert.
However, it’s understood Clark and O’Connor were evacuated around 10 o’clock in the evening after search and rescue volunteers and a police search and rescue squad including a St. John advanced paramedics reached the hut.
Rescue guide Dave Crowe has told Radio New Zealand that Clark and O’Connor left in order to be with Braun-Elwert’s family.
