Thirteen college students and a park guide plunged 100 feet to their deaths Friday when a wooden viewing platform on a cliff collapsed onto rocks below.
Officials said the platform, which overlooked a spectacular narrow valley, was built three years ago and was designed to carry the weight of only 10 people.Police are investigating claims that 18 people crowded onto it before it collapsed.
The students, from the nearby town of Greymouth, were on a field trip at Cave Creek in the Paparoa National Park, a rugged and remote forest on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Senior Sgt. Phil Deazley said four people were hospitalized with serious injuries. Five others, who had not climbed onto the platform, escaped.
Police quoted them as saying they heard "a loud crash and thump followed by screams."