One fatality, seven injured at city beach

A person died and seven people were treated for minor injuries following a water incident at a beach in north Christchurch.

Emergency crews were called to Spencer Beach about 12.45pm yesterday. A St John Ambulance spokesperson said they were notified of a water-related incident near Spencer Park at 12.42pm and responded with four ambulances and five clinical managers.

‘‘We assessed and treated seven patients with minor injuries at the scene.’’

They referred further questions to police. An investigation into the circumstances of the death were ongoing, a police spokesperson said.

According to Spencer Park Surf Lifesaving Club’s Facebook page, an inflatable rescue boat (IRB) competition was held at the beach yesterday morning, giving people the chance to try IRB racing.

It is not known if the event was related to the fatality.

It was a busy weekend for surf lifesaving crews in Canterbury as temperatures reached the mid 20s on Saturday and nearly 20C yesterday.

Sumner Surf Lifesaving Club said Saturday was ‘‘one of the busier days for the history books’’.