{"id":381979,"date":"2026-04-16T05:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/381979\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T05:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:36:08","slug":"two-people-dead-in-kaweraus-tarawera-river-after-water-related-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/381979\/","title":{"rendered":"Two people dead in Kawerau\u2019s Tarawera River after \u2018water-related incident\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

This afternoon, the area was taped off and about 35 people gathered just beyond the cordon after news of the incident broke.<\/p>\n

Some embraced while others looked on quietly towards the riverbank. One young girl was in tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot good, bro,\u201d some onlookers were heard saying, as the situation unfolded.<\/p>\n

A witness, who would not be named, earlier said the rescue helicopter had left the scene and a hearse had arrived.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo people have died after a water-related incident in the Tarawera River in Kawerau. Photo \/ Troy Baker, Whakatane Beacon<\/p>\n

Emergency response <\/p>\n

Emergency services were notified about 11.30am of two people having gone into the river and becoming stuck under a bank.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand sent two crews from Kawerau and two from Edgecumbe, \u201capproximately 15 firefighters\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hato Hone St John sent an ambulance, first response unit, operations manager, rapid response unit and rescue helicopter.<\/p>\n

Emergency ambulance crews assessed three people in a minor condition at the scene.<\/p>\n

Rescue workers from Fire and Emergency and Surf Lifesaving New Zealand were seen leaving the scene earlier this afternoon. <\/p>\n

\"EmergencyEmergency services have been on the scene in Kawerau since about 11.30am today. Photo \/ Troy Baker, Whakatane Beacon<\/p>\n

Surf Lifesaving NZ eastern region manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said a team from the Western Bay of Plenty Search and Rescue Squad assisted police and Fire and Emergency with the operation. <\/p>\n

\u201cFour people from the SAR squad, two of them are swift water trained. They have been down there with an IRB assisting with the operation,\u201d Gibbons-Campbell said.<\/p>\n

He said the team was still there at the moment, but was about to pack up and return to Tauranga soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur condolences to the family at this time,\u201d Gibbons-Campbell said.<\/p>\n

Motu River Jet owner-operator Mark Looney said he was called to the scene for the use of the company\u2019s boat.<\/p>\n

He said he remained there on standby as an IRB was already involved.<\/p>\n

Tanoa said young people had become trapped after a cliff collapsed at a popular river swimming spot. He first heard a rescue helicopter about 11.30am.<\/p>\n

\"EmergencyEmergency services were notified of two people having gone into the Tarawera River near Boyce Park and not returning. Photo \/ Annabel Reid<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you hear a chopper flying in, you know something serious has gone down here in Kawerau,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tanoa said he rushed to the Tarawera River, where he was told the cliff on the other side of a swimming spot frequently used by local children had \u201ccollapsed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tanoa said he knew the youths involved and many of those waiting nearby for updates. <\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo people have died after reportedly going into the Tarawera River and becoming stuck under a river bank. Photo \/ Google Earth<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids \u2026 they all play rugby \u2026 they all train together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, a woman who works near the Tarawera River on Manukorihi Drive said people had been told to stay inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got police down the street, and they have blocked the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman, who did not want to be named, said there were two fire engines, five police cars and three ambulances in the area.<\/p>\n

\"DozensDozens of people gather near the Tarawera River site where two people died.\u00a0Photo \/ Annabel Reid<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no idea what is going on. We\u2019ve just been told to stay in our buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the police were stopping people from going out on the street.<\/p>\n

In a social media post just before 3pm, Kawerau District Council asked residents to allow emergency services \u201cto do their mahi\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn incident occurred today in our community. We understand the New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and St John are at the scene.<\/p>\n

\"AA helicopter at Boyce Park responding to today’s tragedy. Photo \/ Annabel Reid<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask that Kawerau allow these emergency services to do their mahi.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as a community will be updated in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

More to come …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This afternoon, the area was taped off and about 35 people gathered just beyond the cordon after news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,198571,690,6179,305,78,671,175142,3180,111,43,139,69,8143,384,6739,126755,1237,116037],"class_list":{"0":"post-381979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-boyce","10":"tag-dead","11":"tag-died","12":"tag-have","13":"tag-in","14":"tag-incident","15":"tag-kaweraus","16":"tag-near","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-nz","21":"tag-park","22":"tag-people","23":"tag-river","24":"tag-tarawera","25":"tag-two","26":"tag-waterrelated"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}