Family ‘heartbroken’ as hunt for man missing in Manukau Harbour continues

By Melanie Earley of RNZ

The family of a man missing in Auckland’s Manukau Harbour after his boat capsized say they are “heartbroken” as the search continues for a third day.

The search began on Tuesday evening, when police received a distress call just before 6pm saying a person was missing in the water near Puketutu Island.

A second person, believed to be a nephew of the missing man, was able to swim back to shore and raise the alarm.

The boat was towed back to shore by Coastguard on Tuesday night.

The missing man’s niece, Lovina Fa’ukafa, said the family “were still in shock” over the capsize.

“My brother … went with my uncle and he made it to the shore, but my uncle didn’t.”

Search and rescue efforts continued on Thursday, a police spokesperson confirmed, with the police national dive squad joining in.

“Further aerial searches will be conducted by the police Eagle helicopter at low tide.”

A rāhui had been put in place by local iwi, covering much of the harbour for at least seven days.

Coastguard were not participating in the ongoing search on Thursday, a spokesperson confirmed, but were available if needed.