Auckland, Feb 18 NZPA - An outdoor pursuits centre contract instructor told an inquest today that he regretted not responding immediately after he became concerned about a group of Auckland students and their teacher who were canyoning in the Mangatepopo Gorge.

Hastings coroner Christopher Devonport is holding an inquest in Auckland into the deaths of Elim Christian College students Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Tara Gregory, Tom Hsu, Anthony Mulder and Floyd Fernandes, and teacher Tony McClean in the gorge near Turangi while they took part in an outdoor adventure course on April 15, 2008.

The coroner asked Peter Zimmer, who was a contracting instructor at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC) that day, why he did not go to the river until 4pm, despite becoming concerned for the group at about 1.30pm.

"I was concerned at 1.30pm because I knew instructor Jodie Sullivan had the intention to take her group to the gorge," Mr Zimmer said. "It was raining heavily and I knew if it continued to rain heavily conditions would change quickly.

"My obligation was to my group, and I didn't know exactly if she was actually in the gorge. I wasn't 100 percent sure she was in the gorge until 4pm when I got a radio call.

"If there is life at risk I would drop everything and make sure the group was safe. I wish I could wind the clock back, and in hindsight I wish I'd gone into the gorge with field manager Kerry Palmer, and that certainly bugs me to this day," Mr Zimmer told the inquest.

Earlier this week, Ms Sullivan told the court she underestimated how fast the river rose in the afternoon as a storm closed in.

The inquest is scheduled to close tomorrow.

NZPA AKL rp kk gt