KEY POINTS:
A father swept to his death in an alpine river in front of two of his sons was crossing in the right place, police say.
Stephen Damien Colombo, 45, of Melbourne, was crossing the Matukituki River on Saturday with his 9-year-old son Carlo, when both were swept downstream
towards a section of dangerous rapids.
Constable Mike Johnston of Wanaka said the spot where Stephen and Carlo chose to cross the river was a "sound choice".
The river was low and silty, with a milky appearance, he said.
"It's an area where people often cross the river to get to the upside of the Rob Roy," Mr Johnston said.
It sounded like Carlo had stumbled and his father also lost his footing as they crossed the river, Mr Johnston said.
Carlo was found by his 17-year-old brother Stefano about 300m-400m downstream from where he fell into the river, roughly 10m upstream from the swingbridge near the Raspberry Flat car park.
Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said he was amazed the younger son had survived the section of the river.
"The young boy could have died had his brother not waded in and rescued him," he said.
The two boys alerted trampers in the valley of what had happened and the police were contacted at 10.30am.
Mr Colombo's body was found in rapids, 500m downstream of the swingbridge and about 1km from where the river swept him away, Mr Johnston said.
Mt Aspiring Station farmer John Aspinall, who has farmed in the valley for 50 years, said the river was a little higher than normal, but discoloured by snowmelt.
The moderate discolouration meant it could be hard to gauge the depth of the river and see rocks and boulders underneath the water, he said.
"It was in the upper margin of being safe to cross, but I would have had no hesitation in crossing the river in the right spot," Mr Aspinall said.
There had been three drownings in the river during the past 20 years which he could recollect, before the death of Mr Colombo, Mr Aspinall said.
Mr Colombo had been holidaying in New Zealand with his wife and their four children since January 4.
Known as Damien, he was a landscape architect and ran a business, Colombo Design Partnership, with his wife, Karen. Besides his two sons, Mr Colombo had two daughters Ciara, 16, and Bianco, 12. The family live in Melbourne suburb Surrey Hills.
Melbourne newspaper the Sunday Age spoke to Mr Colombo's neighbour Rod Williams who described the deceased as a keen outdoorsman.
Mr Williams said Mr Colombo was always happy to have a friendly chat.
"He was a fine man, a really terrific neighbour. He was always interested in what you were doing and would always say g'day," he said.
Mr Williams' wife said Mr Colombo was a dog breeder and well known in the community.
"They were a very close family. I can't imagine what Karen is going through. She will be absolutely devastated."
Watersafety project manager Matt Claridge said Mr Colombo's death was the sixth New Zealand drowning this year. Of the five previous drownings, two were diving accidents, one involved a jetski, and the remaining two deaths happened at beaches, he said.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
American kayaker feared dead
An American kayaker is missing, presumed dead after a trip on the Waikaia River in Southland.
Senior Sergeant Richard McPhail of Invercargill said the 49-year-old had been kayaking on grade five rapids on the river on Saturday about 70km north of Gore with a Japanese companion about 3pm.
"He lost sight of his companion and the only thing he could locate was a paddle, which he left on a rock."
The search began on Waikaia River near Piano Flat about 6pm on Saturday. Searchers and Alpine Cliff Rescue personnel searched through the night and all day yesterday and an air search also failed to find the man.
"The river's at normal flow but it's quite a dangerous piece of water," Mr McPhail said.
"Obviously we're fearing the worst."
Searchers believed he was in a specific piece of water but could not get access to it because of the conditions.
The man and his companion were experienced kayakers.
- NZPA
