“Sadly, she was unable to be revived.”
The woman’s death would be referred to the Coroner.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson confirmed they attended the incident but said its services were not required. St John referred all other questions to police.
A Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) spokesperson said they weren’t involved in the incident.
RNZ earlier reported the year’s provisional tally of fatal drownings was at 61 deaths at the start of December - 26% lower for that time of year, based on the 10-year average.
But after four water-related deaths within 24 hours earlier this month, Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard told RNZ the rise in deaths was a worry.
“We were tracking well below the 10-year average, up until about a week ago, and clearly now, things are starting to track back to what is our normal in New Zealand.
“Once again, an incredibly tragic weekend,” Gerrard said at the time.
“Our predictive modelling did suggest that we would unfortunately end up closer to 70, which now appears to be close.
“And we’ve still got a couple of long summer weeks to go, before the end of the year.”
There were 94 drowning deaths in 2022 – the largest loss of life in New Zealand waterways from the past decade, and a figure that Gerrard described at the time as a “national disaster”. The year showed a spike in drownings particularly in men over 55 years old, and 85% of those who drowned in 2022 were male.
Last year there were 90 preventable drownings, including six deaths connected to Cyclone Gabrielle. Of the 2023 tally, 83% were male.
More to come
