Blessing to take place at site of drowning at Wellington campground

Tuesday, 27 December 2022

A person failed to resurface from a late night swim in Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River at Kaitoke Regional Park overnight.

A blessing will take place at the site of a drowning after a man failed to return from a late night swim.

Police were alerted to the incident at the Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River in Kaitoke Regional Park about 12.15am on Tuesday morning.

An onsite ranger said a man’s family alerted the park ranger staying at the site after he failed to return from the swim. He was swimming by the swinging bridge at Rivendell.

“The swimmer was recovered from the water and medical attention was administered. However tragically they were pronounced dead at the scene,” a police spokesperson said.

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The car park at Kaitoke Regional Park was full of visitors on Tuesday. A blessing would take place later in the day, police said.

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“Our thoughts are with their family and loved ones.”

The drowning was one of three water-related deaths across the country overnight.

The incident was one of three water-related deaths in the space of five hours across the country overnight.

The campsite remained open on Tuesday morning. The car park by Rivendell was full, with families coming out to enjoy the warm weather.

Hannah, who did not give her last name, said she was not aware of the drowning and did not hear police overnight.

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She had been staying at the campsite with her family for about a week but there were noticeably more young people since Boxing Day as some families left, she said.

“They had music pumping, having a good time.”

Hannah said the incident was “tragic” and “disappointing”.

She witnessed a near miss by the river when a little boy had to be rescued by his grandma.

“I suddenly noticed the commotion but on top of the river noise, you couldn’t hear him.

“It’s why we have to be so careful … We become so complacent with the river.”

A blessing of the site of the drowning would take place later in the day and the death would be referred to the coroner, police said.

Emergency crews were called to Cape Runaway, Ōpōtiki at about 7pm on Monday where a man was pulled from the water and given medical help. He died at the scene.

Later that same evening at about 9.30pm police went to a home in Pukekohe where a person was pulled from a body of water. Attempts to resuscitate them failed.

There have been a number of drownings in the Hutt River, including earlier this year, the death of a five-year-old boy in the Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River shook the local community.

Between 2014 and 2019, four people had drowned in the river, Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Jonty Mills said.