Police release name of boy, 4, who drowned at Kai Iwi Lakes

Shakib Tahir, 4, drowned at Kai Iwi Lakes in Northland on January 4, 2022. Photo / Getty

The child who died at Kai Iwi Lakes in Northland has been named as Shakib Tahir.

The 4-year-old drowned at the popular swimming spot shortly after 2.10pm on Tuesday, despite the best efforts of paramedics and members of the public that performed CPR.

Police released his name this afternoon.

"Our deepest sympathies are with the family and his death has been referred to the Coroner," a police spokesman said.

A rāhui - a temporary ritual prohibition - was placed after the incident, asking all visitors to stay out of the water for 24 hours.

Shakib was the third person to die in a water-related incident in New Zealand on January 4.

Less than half an hour before the boy's death, a man died while swimming in the Waingaro River, west of Ngāruawāhia.

Emergency services received reports that a swimmer in the river had gone missing just before 1.45pm. A 28-year-old man was found but could not be resuscitated.

And person also died minutes earlier in a scuba diving accident at Waiwera Beach.

Emergency services rushed to Wenderholm Regional Park after a person was reported unresponsive after getting into difficulty in the water.

CPR was provided but was unsuccessful.

As of Thursday there had been 30 water-related deaths this summer, less than halfway through the season.

Fourteen people died in preventable drownings over the holiday period alone, with water safety authorities deeming it a "national tragedy".

The "unprecedented" toll counted those deaths occurring between 4am Christmas Eve and 6am Wednesday. Preventable drownings for that period were up 180 per cent on the five-year average from 2016.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard said the loss of life "cuts through every age range, water activity and ethnicity"