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Person dies after being pulled from the water in Whananaki, Northland

Saturday, 8 January 2022

Stay away from rocks and rips at the beach over summer, surf lifesavers say. (Video first published in November 2019.)

Yet another person has died in the water this summer, after a drowning in Northland on Saturday.

Emergency services were called to Whananaki about 5.40pm where an unresponsive person had been pulled from the water, police said in a statement.

An unresponsive person was pulled from the water and was later pronounced dead in the Whananaki area on Saturday afternoon.
An unresponsive person was pulled from the water and was later pronounced dead in the Whananaki area on Saturday afternoon.

But they were not able to revive the person, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are investigating on behalf of the coroner.

**READ MORE:

* Holiday drowning figures worst in 40 years, water safety experts try to diagnose the cause

* Holiday drowning toll up 180 per cent on five-year average

* NZ on track for one of the deadliest summers in the water in 2022

**

It has been an awful summer for drownings, with preliminary figures released by Water Safety New Zealand showing the drowning toll for the official holiday period was up 180 per cent on the five-year average.

Over the official holiday period, which began at 4pm on Christmas Eve through to 6am on January 5, 14 people drowned.

The five-year average for drownings for the previous holiday periods from 2016/17 to 2020/2021 is five.

WSNZ chief executive Daniel Gerrard said it was a “horrific loss of lives” and the toll was unprecedented.

“It cuts through every age range, water activity, and ethnicity,” Gerrard said earlier in the week.

“A common theme in these drownings was people underestimating the conditions and overestimating their ability.”