Northland District Headquarters
Walton Plaza, Whangärei
Thursday March 14, 2013

A 17-year-old boy drowned yesterday at Kai Iwi Lakes, Dargaville while swimming with a group of friends.

The boys went into the water at Promenade Point on Lake Taharoa about 6.30pm and swam out to the end of a shallow shelf of water. The boy who drowned remained in the shallow water while the other three boys swam across a small canal to the other side of the lake.

When they returned a short time later they noticed the other boy was not there and found shirt near the lake edge, so they started looking for him.

They discovered him lying four metres below the surface of the water and pulled him out. The boys started CPR on the deceased boy before the ambulance arrived. However, he died at the scene.

The deceased's name is Vaughan Hoyle, aged 17 years, of Kaiwaka.

ENDS

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