Man's body found after McLaren Falls drowning

McLaren Falls

Sunday 7.12am: The Police National Dive Squad recovered the body of a male last night who drowned at McLaren Falls with the assistance of the Tauranga USAR volunteer team.

Police said he was a 25-year-old Pakistan national who resided in Auckland.

The male was with two friends and decided to go for a swim in the swimming hole under the bridge. He was not a confident swimmer and entered the water on his own while his friends watched from the bridge above, a police statement said.

"He got into difficulties and his friends were not able to get assistance to him in time.

"The matter has now been referred to the Coroner."

Sergeant Craig Madden of the Police Search & Rescue stated "this is a warning to all of us, drowning can occur in minutes."

Saturday 4.32pm: Police and Ambulance are at the McLaren Falls near Omanawa in the Western Bay of Plenty where a person has drowned after getting into difficulties in deep water at the falls.

Emergency services received the call at bout 3:30pm after friends of the swimmer were unable to rescue him after he got into difficulty.

The swimmers body has not been retrieved, and the Police Dive squad has been contacted to assist.

At this stage no details of the victim are available.