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Rescuers found two teenagers who died in a horrific car crash in a national park using an iPhone alert.
Joanna Beach and Bondi Reihana Richmond died when their 4×4 went off a dirt road at Beebys Knob in New Zealand’s Mount Richmond Forest Park on Monday around 11 p.m.
Emergency services found the two 18-year-old girls after police tracked them using the crash detection beacon coordinates on their phones.
The iPhone feature, which informs emergency crews when a motorist has been in a car accident, sent an alert to first responders that the girls needed help.
Two teenagers died when the 4×4 they were traveling in veered off a dirt road in Mount Richmond Forest Park, near Marlborough, northwest of Christchurch, on Monday (pictured, Bondi Reihana Richmond).
Joanna Beach, 18 (pictured) and her friend Ms Richmond were found by rescuers, who tracked the whereabouts of the two teenagers using crash detection beacon coordinates on an iPhone.
Rescuers, including a police helicopter and ground search and rescue teams, found the teens outside the 4×4 vehicle at the bottom of a steep slope.
New Zealand police, who confirmed the girls’ identities on Thursday, are still investigating the cause of the accident and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Tributes poured in from friends and loved ones who remembered the teens as “two beautiful girls.”
“Very sad for everyone involved,” one person wrote online.
Bondi’s father uploaded a heartfelt post to TikTok and remembered his daughter as “amazing.”
“I love you Bondi,” he said.
The Department of Conservation’s Nelson Lakes Visitor Center had granted the girls a permit to drive the 4×4 on the road.
The Beebys Knob track, which is a mountain bike circuit, allowed motorists to use 4×4 vehicles on the dirt road starting December 1, with road access available until April 30.
The pair had gone off a dirt road at Beebys Knob, which is in Mount Richmond Forest Park (pictured).
John Wotherspoon, director of the Visitor Centre, said he was deeply saddened to learn of the girls’ deaths.
“We express our condolences to the family and friends of the two young women who died in this tragic accident,” he said. Stuff.
Richmond and Beach were students at Queen Charlotte College in Picton and lived in a small town called Waikawa, north of Marlborough.
The couple, who left school in 2023, previously attended Marlborough Girls College before making the switch when they were 17.
Betty Whyte, principal of Queen Charlotte College, said the incident was devastating.
‘It’s a tragedy that none of us ever want to go through. “It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” he said.
New Zealand Police have been contacted for comment.
