30 Oct 2011

Call for warning signs after beach death

7:26 pm on 30 October 2011

Police have named the fourth man to drown at Port Waikato this week. He was Otumakavalu Vehikite, 32, of Mangere.

Mr Vehikite was part of a group netfishing in the area, near Pukekohe, late on Friday.

Police believe they found the body of a fisherman who was swept away from a treacherous beach, north of Port Waikato on Sunday.

The man and his two companions were washed off Kariaotahi Beach on Labour Day.

The bodies of the two companions have already been found.

The Kariaotahi Surf Life Saving Club says warning signs may need to be put up along what it calls a treacherous stretch of beach.

It says Mr Vehikite was wearing a wetsuit, while two men with him - who were rescued by bystanders - were wearing lifejackets.

Club president Jim Coe says that given the number of deaths in such a short period of time, something needs to be done to warn visitors.

He says it has been a week of tragedy on the beach, which extends two kilometres north from the mouth of the Waikato River.

He says it is an extremely dangerous area, and it is strongly recommended that people not fish there.