Weather turned bad during hike in New Zealand, says friend of Satish Babu

BENGALURU:  Friends of Satish Babu, who died while on a trek in New Zealand, remember him fondly as a very jovial and extremely energetic and loving person. “I have never seen a single time when he was in a bad mood. His energy levels and his smile were infectious. He would always be surrounded by friends. He was a lovely husband. I don’t know how his son and wife will take this news,” said a close friend of Satish.

According to another family friend, Satish had gone hiking with his friends when weather conditions turned bad. The friend who in turn spoke to one of Preethi's friends said that Preethi had called her and seemed to be in a state of shock. The incident, as narrated by Preethi, occurred when Satish and his friends reached the Ketetahi hut, an abandoned accommodation now used as a shelter.

At that time, he started feeling a little uneasy. He then told his three fellow hikers to continue without him towards the vehicle. Weather conditions were bad during the time of the trek and when Satish didn't return to his vehicle by 5 pm, Preethi, feeling something was amiss, filed a missing complaint with the local police. After being reported missing on Monday evening, searchers had kept looking for the missing man until midnight. Four teams and a helicopter continued the search for him. 

“A search for him continued until after midnight in "blizzard conditions", a police statement given to the New Zealand media said. Meanwhile on Tuesday morning the team continued the search and found his body. The police suspect it could have been a heart attack as the weather was extremely cold. The Tongariro National Park is visited by about a million people each year and covers about 79,596 hectares. Police here according to reports are warning people to refrain from hiking when the weather is bad. The crossing has become an increasingly attractive draw after the Lord of Rings films set neighbouring Mt Ngaruhoe as the imposing Mt Doom.

“It is a tragedy that we happily bid them farewell at the airport after a lovely party last night at a hotel and in just 24 hours I had to hear about his death,” another acquaintance of the family said. Satish's son, Nihal, is a second-year engineering student and has reportedly gone on a road trip with his friends as his parents were on vacation. “He doesn’t know about it yet. No one has the strength to inform him about this. Father and son were extremely close, like friends,” the acquaintance told TNIE on Tuesday evening.