Yesterday the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC) was fined by a court for unsafe practices which caused the death of seven people last year. See January 22nd 2009 Six students and a teacher from Elim Christian College were killed while river canyoning in the central North Island. The instructor from the OPC managed to save four other students. The judge ordered the centre to pay $60,000 to each family who lost someone and $5,000 to the survivors.

The OPC also has to pay a $40,000 fine for breaking the law on safety. In total, the OPC has to pay nearly half a million dollars.

Some of the families say they do not want money, nor do they want the OPC to close. They say that money will not make their grief go away. The OPC says it has changed many of their practices to make them safer.