A teenager has died after being trapped in a waterfall for three hours on the Motatapu River near Wanaka on Sunday.
Dion Latta, 15, of Palmerston, was with a group of friends when his foot got trapped at the top of the 3.5m waterfall. He died in hospital after being rescued.
Friends tried to help him and raised the alarm at 6:30pm.
Senior Constable Mike Johnston, who was first on the scene, said the teenager was trapped in an airpocket and water was flowing over him.
Other rescuers, including members of Wanaka LandSAR alpine cliff and swift water rescue teams, arrived and abseiled down the cliff. They were able to break the power of the water so the leg could be freed.
"They were just kids out on a holiday having a good time and unfortunately it has ended in tragedy," Sen Const Johnston told NZ Newswire.
He said the water level was low at the time.
"We got him out just on dark," he said. "It's rare but people do get foot entrapments. It's been a long time since we've had a situation locally here in Wanaka," he said.
The gorge is a popular area and the group was just swimming and cooling off.
NZN