Man heard screams in area bodies were found

TAUPO: A man has described hearing ‘‘horrific’’ screams on the Taupo lakefront on Thursday night, at the same spot a member of the public found two bodies yesterday morning.

The bodies were located a short distance from the town centre near Mere Rd, and police are yet to confirm the people’s identities or the cause of death.

The local man — who did not want to be named — had been at the same spot for a swim the previous evening with his wife and a friend, until about 7.30pm.

He remembered three other people being there when he wandered to a nearby motel for a spa.

Screaming prompted him to race back.

‘‘It was a horrific noise,’’ he said. ‘‘Like a . . . deep whining. ‘Come on’, I said, ‘let’s get in the car’. Coz, you know, it was like someone was getting hurt. So we drove down there. But as we were driving and turning down to get to where they were, we saw the cops had just left. So we thought, sweet as, they must have sorted it out.’’

The man recalled seeing one person swimming, another on the shore, and a third drinking in the car park near a black SUV, which was still there yesterday.

He could not fathom what prompted the screams, but thought it was unusual someone was still swimming when the temperature had dropped to about 6degC.

He felt sick when he read about the bodies being discovered.

The lakefront area was a popular swimming spot, treasured by locals for its geothermal properties.

‘‘It’s been around forever since I was a kid and it changes its landscape every year just with the different weather, with the lake dropping due to no rain, and stuff.

‘‘With the geothermal action in the lake . . . actually you can dig your feet into the sand and the water comes up hot.’’

It is unclear if the two bodies were pulled from the water or found on the shore, but emergency services were called at 7am, and soon after that a police forensic tent was set up near the water.

Taupo Mayor David Trewavas said there had been a flurry of visitors to the town in recent weeks.

He commended the member of the public who found the bodies and called emergency services, although ‘‘unfortunately, it was too late’’.

The town had woken to a beautiful central plateau day but with ‘‘tragic circumstances for the families involved’’, he said.

‘‘The lake is pristine and the mountains are full of snow. Such a beautiful day to have this unfold. This is very, very tragic.’’

Police officers at the scene confirmed they had removed the bodies yesterday afternoon.

In a statement, a spokesman said police were continuing to make inquiries and awaiting postmortems.

Police declined to be interviewed for this story. — RNZ