Teen missing in water at Sumner
A sister of a missing teenage swimmer feared dead after getting into trouble in ‘‘treacherous’’ waters off a Christchurch beach has vowed to stay on shore until her brother is home.
‘‘I’m not going home until he’s home. I just want him home,’’ the
14-year-old Linwood boy’s older sister, who did not want to be named, said from Scarborough Beach in Sumner last night.
She was among family and friends who remained scattered along the beach and scaling the nearby cliffs searching for signs of him after the boy and his friend, who was able to get to shore, got into trouble while swimming near Cave Rock at the beach about
3.20pm.
The coastguard, three Sumner Surf Life Saving Club boats, a helicopter and police officers had been looking for the boy, but the search was stood down about 5.30pm.
The sister said she was disappointed the police called the search off for the day just two hours after it began. She said officers told her the search would resume this morning.
‘‘I am a bit disappointed that the police and everyone have called off the search for today.’’
A police spokeswoman said she did not know which agency had called the search off for the day and could not comment any further.
The boy’s sister said the news had come as a shock to the family.
‘‘Mum’s a bit shocked as well. She doesn’t really know what to do.’’
A friend of the boy’s family, who did not want to be named, said his mother was ‘‘frantic’’.
‘‘She’s getting more and more nervous, I think just from the not knowing what’s happening. As a mum, you know, she’s a bit panicky . . . I’m really nervous, I’m really anxious.’’
The Coastguard Sumner lifeboat had been involved in the search, but a surf life saving club spokesman said the water search had been stood down by police.
Three of the club’s in-shore rescue boats with nine lifesavers aboard joined the search about 3.30pm, but he said they returned to shore just after 5pm.
‘‘One [of the boys] managed to make it back to shore and alerted the authorities.’’
The family friend said she understood the boys had ‘‘drifted apart’’ and the missing teenager’s friend thought he was waiting for him on the beach. When he returned to the beach and could not find him, he alerted his parents and the authorities.
A St John media alert said one vehicle attended the incident and took one patient to a ‘‘medical facility’’.
The club spokesman described water conditions as ‘‘treacherous and rough’’ and said there was a ‘‘big, strong drift [in the water] along the beach’’.
Heathcote resident Anne Hicks was surfing at the Clocktower end of Scarborough Beach when she noticed the search about 4pm.
‘‘I thought ‘Flip, there must be someone in trouble’.
‘‘There was lot of response . . . it was a good, thorough search. The helicopter was going up and down, up and down.’’
She had started searching around Cave Rock to see if the boy had washed up in high tide. At the time the boy went missing, waves were peaking at about 2 metres high and there was a difficult rip in the area, she said.
‘‘I just hope that he’s safe.’’ Police officers were searching the beach and talking to people after the water search was stood down.
Earlier a St John spokesman said a rescue helicopter was responding, while a Redcliffs resident said he had seen five police cars and an ambulance heading towards the beach.
A police spokeswoman was last night unable to confirm whether the water search had been called off.