Two men have died while gathering seafood at Kakanui on the coast of Otago yesterday afternoon.
Three men were reported missing in the water off Harbour Terrace at 5.30pm yesterday, according to police.
“One man made his way back to the shore with no injuries. A second man was found deceased by helicopter and brought back to the shoreline.”
The third man was located deceased by a surfer who assisted with getting the victim to a boat to be returned to shore.
According to Water Safety New Zealand, there have been 16 preventable drowning deaths within this year up until February 8 and 15 of them were male victims.
Police say the two deaths at Kakanui have been referred to the coroner.
“Police would like to thank the locals of Kakanui and others who assisted with the rescue and recovery.”