Five dead as boat capsizes in suspected collision with whale in New Zealand

Five people have died after the small charter boat they were aboard capsized, authorities in New Zealand said, in what may have been a collision with a whale.

Another six people aboard the boat were rescued. Police said that the 8.5-metre (28ft) boat overturned near the South Island town of Kaikoura.

Officers said they were continuing to investigate the cause of yesterday’s accident. Kaikoura police sergeant Matt Boyce described it as a devastating and unprecedented event.

“Our thoughts are with everyone involved, including the victims and their families, their local communities, and emergency services personnel,” Boyce said.

He said police divers had recovered the bodies of all those who had died.

Boyce added that all six survivors were in a stable condition at a local health centre, with one transferred to a hospital in the city of Christchurch as a precaution.

Kaikoura mayor Craig Mackle told the Associated Press that the water was calm at the time of the accident and the assumption was that a whale had surfaced from beneath the boat.