Searchers on the beach at Hokitika yesterday. PHOTO: JANNA SHERMANPolice have named the Christchurch nine-year-old girl who was swept into the water at the Hokitika River mouth on Thursday. Emergency services were alerted shortly before 9.45am on Thursday that two people were in the sea off the river mouth and drifting northwards past Hokitika, after being swept away. Police said a search of the river mouth was conducted at low tide overnight. A searcher said the girl was wearing adult-sized gumboots and no lifejacket when she was swept into the water.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 26, 2019 22:56 UTC