Divers continue search for man
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The police national dive squad has started a grid search for the 22-year-old man who went missing in Lake Te Anau early earlier today.
Police said earlier today they presumed the young man, from Cromwell, had drowned.
Senior Sergeant Richard McPhail said this afternoon police understood three people on a small dinghy that sank shortly before 3.Early police inquiries suggested the missing man, along with another man and a woman, had taken a dinghy from the foreshore and rowed to a floatplane moored close to the jetty area.30am had been drinking before they decided to row out to a float plane moored not far from shore.One of the men and the woman had managed to swim back. The dinghy was swamped and sank as they rowed back to shore, Mr McPhail said.The alarm was raised when they could not find their companion.
The submerged dinghy and other gear had been found during the initial search, which had involved police and volunteers in a helicopter, boats and on foot. .A helicopter continued the search earlier today until the divers arrived from Wellington early this afternoon. However, there was still no trace of the Cromwell man.Police had contacted the missing man’s family in Cromwell. They had started a grid search of the lake, helped by search volunteers in boats.Mr McPhail said none of the group in the dinghy had life jackets or were authorised to take the boat or go on to the jetty or float plane.Mr McPhail said none of the group in the dinghy had life jackets or were authorised to take the boat or go on to the jetty or float plane.”Police were interviewing witnesses to the incident. ”Inquiries are continuing with the group but it appears to have been an alcohol-related act that has ended in tragedy.