The common factor in the six drownings since Friday

Fifty people were rescued from the water in northern region over the weekend, along with two with mass rescues in Raglan. The six fatal drownings in Auckland since Friday afternoon share one common factor, say lifeguards: unpatrolled beaches. All six drownings happened at locations where lifeguards aren’t stationed or where patrols had finished for the day. Two people also drowned at unpatrolled beaches on Friday: one at Narrow Neck Beach on Auckland’s North Shore, and another at Big Manly Beach on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. “We’re seeing common sense playing a huge part [in the water incidents].