Korean tourist suspected missing in Queensland bush, authorities launch search
Updated
Around 20 volunteers are combing through bushland in far north Queensland for a Korean tourist who has been missing for a week.
Joohee Han, 25, was last seen at a supermarket at Tully, south of Cairns, on May 31.
Senior Constable Jane Moran said Ms Han's friends raised the alarm yesterday, almost a week after she failed to return to her backpackers accommodation.
"She sent a message to a friend saying she was going to do a walk up Mount Tyson at 11:00 on Friday morning and nobody has heard from her since then," she said.
"Her friends came into the police station yesterday and reported her missing and we commenced a search."
She said police officers, State Emergency Service (SES) crews and a rescue helicopter started searching the area yesterday.
"It is a long time and there is always a concern, with the cold weather we have had," Senior Constable Moran said.
SES area coordinator Eleanor Rosam said 20 volunteers were combing through bushland, behind the township of Tully.
"The terrain is very difficult, it is a track that is not used very frequently so it is not in the best condition," she said.
"It is very hard going, we are still trying to push through.
"We have a helicopter on site and we have our vertical mobility unit here."
Senior Constable Moran is urging anyone who has seen her to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
"Because it may be that she has come off down the mountain but we don't know this," she said.
"We don't know how prepared she was for the walk but we know that the walk at Mount Tyson requires a fair level of fitness and so you would need supplies to be able to get you up and down."
Ms Han is described as 145 centimetres tall with a proportionate build, shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes, and wears glasses.
Police have asked anyone who may have seen Ms Han or who may have walked the track between June 1 and today to contact them.
Topics: emergency-incidents, disasters-and-accidents, missing-person, community-and-society, tully-4854, qld, australia, cairns-4870, brisbane-4000
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