A teenager trapped by water pressure in a Canterbury storage pond has become the 12th person to drown so far this year.
The
18-year-old Christchurch girl was pinned against an underwater gateway
in the pond, near the Waimakariri River, while swimming about 1pm on
Wednesday, Fairfax NZ reports.
The woman's friends tried for 20
minutes to save her, but the water pressure was too strong, Sewlyn
police Sergeant Jeff Bland says.
"The girl has got a wee bit close to a gated screen area and she's been sucked down...
"There was, at one stage, three people trying to pull her out but it was impossible because she jammed against the gate."
The girl died at the scene and emergency services had to lift the gate to release her body.
Selwyn
District Council chief executive Paul Davey said there had been
repeated warnings about the pond, including signs warning people not to
swim there - but residents still did.
NZN