Taieri Mouth boat capsize: Child dies following incident south of Dunedin

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A boat is recovered from Taieri Mouth, south of Dunedin, after a serious incident.

Another child remains in a serious condition in the intensive care unit at Dunedin Hospital, police said on Saturday evening.

Three other people – two adults and a child – have now been released from hospital care.

Police said they will investigate the circumstances of the death on behalf of the Coroner.

Nick Barth was on holiday with his family when he and others sprung into action after a boat capsized at Taieri Mouth, south of Dunedin.

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Five people were taken to hospital.

Barth and family were staying at nearby Kuri Bush. He told Stuff that he heard emergency services in the area about 2pm on Saturday, including three helicopters.

“The boat had drifted along the coast 2 to 3km before it made its way to shore, a surfer tied a rope to it and pulled it in.

“I was sort of waist to chest deep in water and the waves were breaking. It is quite a difficult area and the boat was getting stuck on rocks and in kelp.

“Eventually, with the help of an incoming tide we got it into a position as far as we could get it.”

Barth said search and rescue were notified of the recovery.

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A small boat with an outboard motor flipped as it was attempting to cross the bar at Taieri Mouth, just south of Dunedin about 1pm on Saturday. (File photo).

“The boat is quite broken, there is hole in the side and the back end of it is all in pieces.

“The boat drifted all the way along the coast, we spent about two hours trying to pull it in.

“There was a good five or six of us, we used a truck with a winch to tow it on to the beach, and it is now tied up.

“It was quite a mission.”

The boat, with an outboard motor, flipped and emergency services were called about 1pm. Police said the boat was attempting to cross the bar.

Earlier, a St John spokeswoman said it was understood two people had been critically injured, one was serious, two others were in a moderate condition.

Those critically injured and the seriously injured person were flown to Dunedin Hospital. The two moderately injured people were taken by ambulance.

Police said two adults and three children were injured.

The group was brought back to shore by local jet skiers and surfers and first aid was initially provided by two surfers who are also medical doctors, the police spokeswoman said.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman Daniel Reilly said a crew from the Brighton Volunteer Fire Brigade was sent to the scene and helped police and St John.

Otago Rescue Helicopter chief pilot Graeme Gale said three of their rescue helicopters were sent to the scene.

He said all of those involved were on the shore when they arrived and so crew members provided "advanced care" and transported them to hospital.

“It’s a terrible tragedy,” he said.

The Taieri Mouth area was in low tide about 2.45pm with swell heights of about 0.4 metres, according to the Tides4fishing website.

Taieri Mouth is a small fishing village situated at the mouth of the Taieri River about 35 kilometres southwest of Dunedin.

Stuff