Girl (9) missing after whitebaiting incident
A 9YEAROLD girl is missing in the sea and her grandfather had a narrow escape during a dramatic rescue attempt off the Hokitika River mouth yesterday.
Emergency services were alerted shortly before 9.45am that two people were in the sea off the river mouth and drifting northwards past Hokitika, after being swept away while whitebaiting.
A strong southwesterly combined with king tide conditions created a very heavy swell.
In a short statement an hour later, police said emergency services were on the scene, ‘‘where two people were reported to have got into difficulty in the water’’.
‘‘One person has been pulled from the water. However, another has not yet been located,’’ police said.
Police search and rescue, Kotuku Surf Rescue, Land Search and Rescue and the NZCC West Coast Rescue Helicopter were all on the scene scouring a 2km search area from the river mouth to the sewage ponds at Two Mile, on the northern outskirts of town.
A searcher said the girl was wearing adultsized gumboots and no lifejacket when she was swept into the water.
Her grandfather was in waders and also got into trouble as he attempted to help her.
The grandfather was rescued by another whitebaiter, but the girl was swept away.
Senior Sergeant Brent Cook said the girl had been out whitebaiting with ‘‘an elderly man’’ at the time.
Stuff reported that two of the surf rescue team had to swim to shore after their inflatable boat flipped over.
The initial aerial search for the girl was suspended about 10.45am, and resumed about 12.15pm when the rescue helicopter was put back in the air with a police spotter on board.
NZCC West Coast Rescue Helicopter base manager Angus Taylor said afterwards that both the sea and weather conditions were ‘‘very rough’’ and made it difficult to see anyone in the water.
With a strong southwesterly blowing, there was ‘‘a very strong northerly drift’’ moving anything in the water northwards quickly.
‘‘It was breaking water for a long way offshore.’’
The helicopter spent about an hour combing the sea, as far north as the Arahura River mouth, before turning back.
Some items of clothing and a wader had been recovered by the time the aerial search was suspended.
The MetService yesterday warned of heavy swells and king tides for the West Coast overnight and into today.
It predicted 5m6m waves offshore and winds of 65kmh.
The southwest swells were expected to ease to 3m by tonight.