Police are hopeful that a 23-year-old hiker missing since Boxing Day could still be alive in the remote Kosciuszko national park after a camera and campfire were found.
The extensive search for Victorian man Hadi Nazari entered its 13th day on Tuesday.
His camera and its case along with a lighter and remnants of a campfire were found on Sunday, the New South Wales police superintendent Andrew Spliet told reporters on Tuesday.
“That area is an increased focus with the search now,” Spliet said.
“We are making inquiries to try and determine how long ago that little campfire was lit and that will give us … some type of timeline to when he was last in that specific area.
“We are very hopeful and we will continue the search until we’re comfortable that we have done everything we possibly can.”
Police were “confident” that Nazari had “covered a bit of ground”, given that the camera and campfire were found “some distance away” over a mountain spur from where rubbish and hiking poles believed to be his were discovered near the Kosciuszko River last Tuesday.
“He’s obviously moving around, no doubt trying to get where his bearings are,” Spliet said, adding that the search would focus on waterways.
“Waterways are very important to us, simply because if he has access to water, there is a very hopeful chance he will still be healthy.”
Nazari was carrying a tent, a sleeping bag and a small bottle of water when he went missing.
“He has a history of hiking around the place, so he is aware of his surroundings and he has got some capability to protect himself from the elements,” Spliet said.
Nazari was hiking with two friends who last saw him descending the Hannels Spur trail in the national park. He failed to arrive at the Geehi campground – their planned meeting spot.
A large-scale search mobilising 300 people has been under way to find the hiker, involving the police, the State Emergency Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, ambulance staff and volunteers. Six rescue and bomb disposal unit specialist officers were airlifted into the bushland to access remote areas.
The Hannels Spur trail is one of the toughest ascents in Australia, according to bushwalking advice, with hikers gaining 1,800 metres of elevation. An experienced guide, Doug Chatten, said the area was unforgiving, particularly for anyone who ventured away from the trail.
“If you’re off the track, it’s bloody tough country,” he said. “It’s no easy walk, that’s for sure … you’d be a hard person to find.”
Acting Supt Jillian Gibson previously said the area was some “of the most rugged terrain in NSW”.
“It’s very steep, it’s very vegetated and it’s quite remote … it is dense bushland with high altitude and scaling it is very difficult.”
Hot and humid conditions at the weekend proved trying.
“It has made it uncomfortable,” Spliet said on Tuesday.
“The terrain is very steep, very thick bushland. We haven’t had any complaints from the searchers in that regard, they have just been out there doing the business [and] we can’t thank our partner agencies enough for that.”
Zahra Nazari, the missing man’s sister, has told the Nine network’s Today show that “not seeing him for so many days [and] not able to talk to him for so many days” was the “biggest trauma” of her life.
“I just want to go outside and scream, you know. I just look at his pictures all the time. I pray to God he comes back … soon.”
