Huntingtower School in Mount Waverley. Police have told Fairfax Media the teenager was on a walk when he fell ill and died. However, the cause of the boy's death is not yet known, with police saying they are waiting for the results of an autopsy. At a press conference outside the school on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Bowen said the 17-year-old boy became unwell during their first day of hiking in the Plumbago. The Royal Flying Doctor Service was on its way to the boy at 5pm on Monday, but turned around mid-flight after crew were notified that he had died. Paramedics were treating him at the time, and police were notified of his passing a short time later. Asked if the student had possibly been bitten by an animal, or had fallen, Mr Bowen said he did not believe so. "There was no accident, there was no animal. He just wasn't feeling well," he said. He would not speculate as to whether the boy had an existing medical condition.

Mr Bowen said the school would conduct a review into the school camp, but said nothing like this had happened in its 35-year history. Asked if the boy was alone or with students when he became ill, Mr Bowen said he was not sure. "There would have been a supervisor there. I'm imagining it was with the group because it was at such an early stage of the camp." Monday was the first day of walking, he said, after a few "warm up" hours on the Sunday. "The way it's designed is they break up into smaller groups - each group with a number of supervisors," he said. "We have an incredible ratio of one supervisor to every three children because it is the Australian outback and we know that it can be a dangerous environment and we do everything we can to ensure their safety." The remaining students and their supervisors are currently on a bus returning to Melbourne, roughly a 14-hour drive from Plumbago. "Everyone is struggling as you can imagine," Mr Bowen said, adding a counsellor was on board the bus.

The school has been in contact with the family. "They're devastated - completely devastated, as are we all," Mr Bowen said. "It's a terrible thing for our community." He said the family had requested privacy, and did not want the boy's image or name released. Mr Bowen said the excursion was about kindness and building relationships. Asked if the excursion was gruelling, he said it "is and it isn't." "It's an experience in which its intended to help them bind as a group and to find out a bit about themselves and to support one another," he said, adding it was not about being a "hero".It's understood all senior years at the school are away on various camps this week. The 2000 square kilometre Plumbago Station comprises rugged, pastoral terrain, however it is accessible by road, police said.

In a statement to parents on Tuesday, Mr Bowen said: "It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the sad passing of a year 11 student on the camp to Plumbago Station." "Our thoughts, sympathies and prayers are with the student's family and friends, and with the students and teachers who were on the camp," he said. "The camp has been cancelled and the students are returning to Huntingtower. "Counselling is being provided for the students and staff, and the wider school community." About 75 students had been on the camp at the vast sheep and cattle station.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service received a call for help on Monday evening and dispatched a crew at 5pm to retrieve the student. But midway during the flight, they were notified that the student had died, and returned to their base in Adelaide. "Unfortunately we were not able to retrieve the patient," a Royal Flying Doctor Service spokesman said. The Royal Flying doctors was planning on landing on an airstrip at Manna Hill station, near Plumbago Station. Plumbago Station is located about 420 kilometres north-east of Adelaide and 200 kilometres west of Broken Hill.

Huntingtower students have been attending Plumbago Station as part of the school's "outdoor education experience" for the past 35 years, Mr Bowen said. Students spend one week hiking through the arid South Australian station. The school holds information sessions with students and parents in the lead-up to the trip and students are encouraged to hire a backpack, sleeping bag and weatherproof clothing. The students typically carry a 70-90 litre backpack with their belongings. Each student carries a seven-litre water bag, but they have access to 10 litres of water in total each day for cooking, cleaning and drinking.

The temperature at Broken Hill Airport reached 40.2 degrees on Monday, while a maximum temperature of 42 degrees was forecast for Tuesday. Huntingtower is a Christian Science school, and acknowledges on its website that the religion is "perhaps best known for its emphasis on healing by spiritual means." However, the school also states that "the wishes of parents of Huntingtower students for medical attention for their children is respected at all times." with Tammy Mills, Craig Butt, Henrietta Cook