Student’s body found in lake

One moment Amzal Azmi was posing for a photo in a placid Lake Karapiro in Waikato. The next, he was gone. A search for the missing 21-year-old man through Sunday afternoon was called off as dark fell, and police divers found his body on Monday shortly after noon where he was last seen in shoulder-height water.

The man’s flatmate Amar Rafaee said the mechanical engineering student from Malaysia left the Hamilton East flat they share with four others on Sunday to cycle the Hamilton River Trail.

They left in the morning and reached the Waipuke Reserve, on the southern side of Lake Karapiro, in the afternoon.

‘‘He asked my friend to take a picture of him floating in the water,’’ Rafaee said on Monday. Amzal Azmi waded into the water. Rafaee said his friend took the picture and, a short time later, the student was screaming for help. ‘‘People nearby tried to reach him.’’ Rafaee had been in contact with the Amzal Azmi’s parents back in Malaysia.

He said they were aware of what had occurred and were understood to be on their way to New Zealand.

Amzal Azmi had been studying at Waikato University for the past year.

Rafaee said his flatmate could swim but appeared to have got out of his depth.

‘‘I don’t know if he’s a good swimmer, but he can swim.

‘‘He loved cycling, and to go the distance to Lake Karapiro was normal for him.

‘‘We have a big Malaysian population, so we know everyone around here - there are about 70 people.’’

Two of the man’s friends had gathered at the lake on Monday morning awaiting the police dive squad.

One friend was with the missing man at the time but he was too distressed to talk about what happened.

He watched on from the hillside as the police divers entered the water.

A marquee was been set up by local Waipa district councillors at the scene.

They provided food and water to the students and the dive squad.

Waipa District Councillor Liz Stolwyk said that part of the lake is a safe swimming zone for families.

She said Amzal Azmi was swimming by the western buoy.

‘‘From what we understand, [Amzal Azmi] was swimming on this [southern] side, but was also spotted on the other side, so it’s possible he was out of his depth.’’

That area of the lake was calm and of relatively shallow depth that gradually deepens.

‘‘It’s up to your knee and then it goes a lot deeper - loads of young children swim in this area because it’s a unique shallow shelf. ‘‘Right now the water level is very low.’’ Lake users nearby on jetskis and in snorkelling gear were also asked to help with the search while a rescue helicopter conducted an aerial search of the lake.