Tourist drowns while fishing
A fisherman who drowned at the mouth of a Bay of Plenty river was a tourist visiting New Zealand with his father and father’s best friend, rescuers say.
Police yesterday confirmed that a man died at the entrance to the Kaituna River, between Papamoa and Maketu.
Emergency services were called at 1.30pm yesterday as onlookers performed CPR on the man.
The man, fishing at the time, was found some distance offshore, police said. It’s not certain who brought him on to the beach.
Witnesses said the man had headed out into the surf carrying a bucket to collect scallops. Some said he was wearing waders, others said he wore a wetsuit.
Sarah Bridgens was enjoying a family day fishing when she heard calls for help.
‘‘They were coming from down there,’’ she said, pointing at the beach. ‘‘I ran over as fast as I could and started to give chest compressions. ‘‘I have to know CPR for work.’’ A family member was instructed to give mouth-to-mouth as she attempted chest compressions.
Bridgens thinks the man might have been lying there for some time before she arrived, but could not be certain.
She also called 111 as she ran over to assist.
Maketu Fire Chief Shane Beech said the man was wearing a wetsuit and appeared to have swum out to set a net or crayfish pot.
‘‘When we arrived, he was onshore. Someone obviously had gone and retrieved him, pulled him on to shore and started CPR.’’
Beech said it appeared he was unresponsive when he was pulled to shore.
‘‘Unfortunately, we couldn’t get him back.’’
The cause of death was yet to be established and the matter will be reported to the Coroner.
Another fisherman who saw events unfold said that area of beach was quite treacherous and could be a dangerous place to fish.
‘‘It drops off really steep around there,’’ the man said, declining to give his name.
Bridgens spoke to the man’s companions, who said they were visiting New Zealand from Asia and had only been in the country for a week.
‘‘It’s really sad, really. They came over for a holiday and now one is going home in a box.’’
Some witnesses speculated that the man’s waders had filled with water, which could have dragged him under. This has not been confirmed.
Another fisherman put back the dead man’s catch, as it could have been considered tapu. He expected a rahui to be in place in the area shortly.
Bay of Plenty police Senior Sergeant Mike Membery said swells had been high in the area over recent days and on Saturday, the Coastguard had had to rescue a capsized boat in Tauranga Harbour.
‘‘I’m not sure how rough it is at the moment . . . there’s obviously a bit of swell running over there.’’