Northamptonshire couple rush to be with granddaughter after tragedy strikes family in Australia rockslide

A Northamptonshire couple have flown to Australia to be reunited with their teenage granddaughter after a landslide left her mother fighting for her life.

Rex and Susan Lowin, of Milton Malsor near Northampton, landed in Sydney on Thursday (April 5).

Their daughter, yoga teacher Anastasia Nazir, aged 50, had travelled from her home in Singapore for a family holiday.

But the trip turned to tragedy when her 49-year-old lawyer husband Mehraab Nazir and nine-year-old son died in a rockfall while hiking in the Blue Mountains national park on Monday.

Anastasia, and the couple’s 14-year-old son were said to be in critical condition in hospital, although their eldest daughter – who called emergency services — was not physically injured.

Local sources confirmed the Lowins, both 76, had arrived in Sydney from Northamptonshire.

Rescuers reportedly took more than an hour to reach the site, where they recovered the bodies from dense bushland.

ABC News in Australia said Mrs Nazir and her son were winched out of the scene by helicopter before undergoing emergency surgery for what police described as "significant head and abdominal injuries.”

According to ABC, NSW Ambulance Acting Chief Superintendent Stewart Clarke said the Nazirs’ 15-year-old daughter helped authorities find her family despite not knowing where they were.

He said: "After witnessing something completely devastating and heartbreaking to then have the composure to stay on the phone, how she maintained her composure during such a terrible time is nothing short of heroic.

"It was heartbreaking to know as she was leaving the bush her world had literally changed within the scope of an hour."