Coroglen drowning: Roadside toilet-stop near river ends tragically for teen

An early morning toilet stop on the side of the road has ended in tragedy for a teenager who died after losing his footing and falling into a creek.

It is understood the young man in his late teens was in a car with a group of friends when they stopped in the dark along the Tairua Whitianga Rd in Coromandel.

Police have named the teen as 19-year-old Cameron Cumming and said in a statement their thoughts were with the young man’s family.

The road runs alongside the Waiwawa River and is right by the roadside in many parts.

Cumming worked in construction for Gene and Nicole Bryant, who told Stuff he was like a “second son” to them.

“I’m still in shock after the news,” Gene Bryant said.

“[I’m] still trying to call you r phone and expecting you to pick up like normal.”

Bryant said he had known Cumming “for a long time now” and had watched him progress in his work.

“[I’m} proud of who you had become. You still had a lot to give and a lot to learn.”

Cameron Cumming, 19, drowned in the Waiwawa River, Coroglen, on Thursday morning. Photo / Supplied

Bryant told Stuff Cumming was found with a “huge gash on his head in the water” after the “unfair [and] tragic accident”.

He said Cumming started working for the pair for work experience from Mercury Bay school and later took up a job.

“It was an absolute tragedy and I feel for his family but also the friends with him,” one person near the Waiwawa River said.

“His friends were frantically trying to find him but they haven’t been able to so they’ve called emergency services straight away.”

Another local said they understood Cumming had hit his head falling into the water.

The incident happened at 2.40am on Thursday, January 19.

Emergency services confirmed they were alerted to a water incident where a person was missing.

Fire and Emergency confirmed they responded to assist ambulance with the rescue of a teenage male, believed to have fallen into the river alongside the Tairua Whitianga Rd at Coroglen.

Three fire trucks were dispatched from Whitianga and all had left the scene by 4.33am, by which time Cumming’s body had been recovered.

Cumming’s death marked a horror 48 hours and happened less than a day after a man drowned at Opoutere Beach.

The man was part of a group that got into trouble in very rough surf at the beach north of Whangamata on January 18.

A teenager from the same group was missing until a member of the public discovered a body near Slipper Island/Whakahau on Saturday.

Just a day earlier, on Tuesday, January 17, a man went missing in the water in Whangamata.

Police confirmed the man had been reported missing near the estuary shortly after 6pm.

A rescue helicopter located him shortly after but he could not be revived.