Opoutere beach (file image).
Photo: 123RF
Searchers are still hunting for a missing swimmer after one person died and several were hurt after getting into difficulty at Opoutere Beach on Wednesday morning.
Surf Life Saving’s Operation Supervisor Laura Stephens said lifeguards were working with police to search for the missing person.
“Our focus has been on an unaccounted-for swimmer, so all of our assets have been focused on finding them.
“So we’ve had several crews on the water since this morning, and are still ongoing.”
Beanland-Stephens said if searchers could not locate the swimmer on Wednesday, searches would resume on Thursday.
Two rescue boats and two jet-skis were being used for the search, she said.
St John said three helicopters, three ambulances and two managers responded to the beach, north of Whangamatā in the Coromandel, after getting a call about the incident at 11.27am, when people saw a group of seven signalling for help.
About 3.30pm, police said six people were pulled from the water.
One was in a critical condition and unable to be revived, and four were in minor-to-moderate conditions.
Police, who were also at the scene, said a fixed-wing aircraft would assist with the search.
Coastguard senior communications advisor Ben Parsons earlier said volunteers from Auckland Coastguard Air Patrol were on their way to Opoutere to help search for the missing swimmer.
Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club said on Facebook that the search-and-rescue underway involved lifeguards from several clubs.
Wednesday’s operation followed another incident on Tuesday when a swimmer at Whangamatā died outside of lifeguard patrol hours, the Surf Life Saving Club said.
It warned swimmers to know their limits and to swim between the flags at patrolled beaches.
Surf Lifesaving’s National Lifesaving Manager Andy Kent said the group were likely to have been swimming – and that Opoutere Beach was unpatrolled.
It was a reminder for people to only swim between the flags in a patrolled area, he said.
MetService said in its marine forecast for Coromandel today that winds could reach 25 knots, gusting to 35 knots in the afternoon.
It expected the sea to become “rough for a time in the afternoon and early evening”.
“Cloud increasing, then fair visibility in isolated showers from afternoon. Easterly swell 2 metres, rising to 2.5 metres this afternoon.”