Missing Maruia Falls Swimmer
Police can now release the name of the man missing at Maruia Falls.
He is Mikhail Buchanan, also known as Mikhail Anderson, 26, of Christchurch,.
“This
continues to be an incredibly difficult time for Mikhail’s
family
and friends, and we want to be in a position to
provide them with closure,”
says Nelson Bays Area
Commander Matthew Scoles.
Searching continued over the
weekend and included searching of the river
bank, camera
searches of pools that were unable to be accessed by the
Dive
Squad due to conditions, and a chute downstream of
the falls. However due to
water conditions visibility was
an issue throughout the weekend.
“Over the past 10
days the search teams have been confronted
with
considerable challenges due to the weather and river
conditions but have made
use of all search windows
available,” says Inspector Scoles.
“This has
included searches of the river by the Police National Dive
Squad,
Nelson Dive Club, Swift Water Rescue Team and
Nelson Surf Rescue, and onshore
support and bank searches
by Police Search and Rescue members."
In total teams
have searched the area of the falls and about two
kilometres
downstream.
Police expect to reassess in
the coming days and determine whether further
searching
is possible in current
conditions.