A 69-year-old Lithuanian man was forced to undergo an emergency leg amputation during a 20-hour rescue operation in the Tasmanian wilderness. The man, who remains in critical condition, arrived at Tasmania’s Royal Hobart hospital on Sunday.

The police in the state of Tasmania said all other efforts to help the man, a foreign tourist in his 60s, failed before the decision was made to amputate.

Officials said the man, a tourist in his 60s, was kayaking with friends in the Franklin River when he slipped and became trapped.

A tourist has had his leg amputated in Tasmania after getting trapped in a ‘raging’ river while kayaking. Medics attending to the holidaymaker in his 60s said they made a ‘life or death’ decision during the intense 20-hour rescue mission on the Franklin river.

A man in his 60s has had his leg amputated after he became stuck for more than 20 hours between rocks in the Franklin River in Tasmania's remote south-west. Tasmania Police said the rescue was "an extremely challenging and technical operation" and every effort was made to extract the man before his leg was amputated.

A tourist has had his leg amputated after he became trapped between rocks for more than 20 hours while kayaking in Australia. The man in his 60s was kayaking with a group on Friday when his leg became wedged between rocks in an area of rapids in the Franklin River in Tasmania.