Police are considering what part alcohol played in a man's death at the centre of a multi-agency body recovery operation currently underway in the Kaimai Ranges this morning.
Sergeant Graham McGurk of the Matamata Police said the alarm was raised in the early hours of the morning.
"It appears a group of people in three four-wheel-drive vehicles have travelled up Thompson's Track, a 4wd access only track over the Kaimais between Te Aroha and Katikati, and made camp for the night near the summit.
"The group have been drinking and one member of the party has decided to drive his vehicle up to a lookout on the summit and unfortunately his vehicle has gone over the edge ending up about 100m down in thick bush."
Mr McGurk said the man's companions became concerned they hadn't seen him after about 15 minutes and walked up to the lookout where they saw that his vehicle had plunged over the edge.
"It's took a while for the alarm to be raised and this track is accessible only by 4wd. The first responders were the Katikati Volunteer Fire Brigade who had to walk to the crash site from the end of Thompson's Rd.
"The 31-year-old Auckland man's body remains trapped in the vehicle and we're currently exploring options on how to recover both him and the vehicle."
Mr McGurk said agencies involved at the scene include the Waikato Police Search and Rescue, a Tauranga based rescue helicopter, St John ambulance and the Fire service including a high angle rescue team from Hamilton.
The recovery operation is expected to take several hours.
Note to media, access to the site is limited to 4wd vehicles only, it is asked media not try and access the scene with vehicles without that capability less further recovery operations become necessary with the current operation expected to take several hours.
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