DROWNINGS DURING LAST WEEK END

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27374, 12 June 1954, Page 3

DROWNINGS DURING LAST WEEK END

PEAK SUMMER FIGURE EXCEEDED (New Zealand Press Association)' WELLINGTON, June 11.

There wer& more drownings during the recent holiday, week-end than during the Easter week-end or the peak holiday week-ends of last summer, says a statement issued by the Publicity Division of the Tburist Department. During the week-end four persons were drowned. Three of them were fishing.

The capsize of a dinghy caused ofie of the drownings, and another occurred when a youth who had been fishing fell from a wharf. The third death was that of an underwater fisherman who got into difficulties in 10ft of water and could not be reached when he drifted under kelp. Yet another man was drowned when a launch returning from a fishing trip was overturned by big waves. The fourth victim was a child who was drowned in a small stream near his home. Men on fishing expeditions and small children around their homes have made up most of the drowning victims* of the last three months, during which the total number of drownings has been almost as great as that of* the peak period during the summer.