Annika Ferry: Investigations into death at North Head
Investigators continue to piece together how brilliant uni student Annika Ferry died at an abandoned military bunker on North Head, as they move to prevent further tragedies on the headland.
Manly
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Authorities have banned the public from abandoned military bunkers on a section of North Head where a young woman died in an accidental fall early on Wednesday morning.
Annika Ferry, 21, from Balgowlah Heights, fell from a historic World War Two structure at Blue Fish Point while watching the sunrise.
Northern Beaches Police are now investigating whether she slipped, or a section of the 70-year-old former searchlight emplacement’s roof may have given way while Ms Ferry was gripping it.
Police are also trying to determine if a chunk of concrete from the roof may have struck her in the head.
Ms Ferry, a renewable energy engineering student at the University of NSW, suffered a massive head injury.
Despite the efforts of her close friend Bec Bennett, 21, who tried CPR, Ms Ferry died before ambulance paramedics could reach her.
The two friends had hiked several hundred metres through a section of Sydney Harbour National Park to Blue Fish Point at 5.30am. Ms Bennet took photographs of Ms Ferry as she stood on the structure, with her hands holding on to its roof.
Ms Ferry’s family released four photos of her that were taken in the moments before she was fatally injured.
Northern Beaches Police crime manager, Mick Boutouridis said investigators were still waiting on three outstanding lines of inquiry to assist them prepare a report for the Coroner.
Chief Inspector Boutouridis said officers looking into the death were yet to interview Ms Bennett to get her account of what happened to her friend.
Ms Bennett was taken to hospital to be treated for shock on Wednesday morning.
“Officer are also waiting on the final crime scene examiner’s report,” Inspector Boutouridis said on Friday afternoon.
“And they are still to receive the results of a post mortem.”
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has restricted access to the historic military relics on Blue Fish Point which include three searchlight emplacements and an abandoned two-level radar installation, popular with sightseers.
A contracted security guard was stationed at the end of Blue Fish Dr to prevent hikers and anglers accessing a rough bush track, skirting the southern edge of the North Head Sewage Treatment Plant, to the top of Blue Fish Point.
He had set up trestle barriers and a sign stating: “Area Closed. Penalties Apply”.
There is also “Danger Do Not Enter” tape on a historic wall between the national park and the former North Fort military barracks.
“We can't let people in. It’s not safe” the guard said on Friday morning.
The NPWS would not confirm whether it was examining the structures for faults, but did say that access to the area was being denied to the public.
“Our thoughts are with (Ms Ferry’s) family and friends,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“As the matter is subject to investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
“In the meantime NPWS has moved immediately to secure access to structures.”