At Sunset Beach in Port Waikato off-duty lifeguards rescued three children and an adult caught in a dangerous rip amid turbulent 1.2-2m surf.
The group, swimming at an unpatrolled beach, was spotted last night by six lifeguards from the Sunset Beach Surf Lifesaving Club, who swiftly intervened with rescue equipment.
While three individuals were brought to shore in stable but shaken condition, one semi-conscious victim required hospital transfer via Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) highlighted the group’s “incredible luck” that lifeguards were nearby, noting a likely tragedy otherwise.
The incident highlighted the dangers of unpatrolled beaches, following a separate fatal drowning earlier that day at Pāpāmoa Beach in Tauranga, where resuscitation attempts by surf lifeguards and emergency services were unsuccessful.
Sunset could have been a Waterloo
Some people stand in the darkness
afraid to step into the light 🎶