Third worst year for drownings

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33425, 5 January 1974, Page 2

Third worst year for drownings

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, January 4. The provisional number of drowning during 1973 was 136, third highest for any year since 1947, when records were first kept, says the National Water Safety Board. The worst year was 1951, when 163 people were drowned.

More than one-third of those drowned last year were children, and nearly half the drownings occurred during January, February, and December.

Of those drowned, 23 were under the age of five; 18 were between five and 10, and 32 were between 11 and 20. In 1972, there were 126 drownings and the previous year 106. Drawing attention to the need for constant supervi-

sion of children when playing near water, the secretary of the National Water Safety Board (Mrs B. Birch) said that in one case a 15-month-old child had drowned in a puddle of water, deep, which had formed during rain. There was an increasing number of drownings because of boating accidents. "Too often boat users do something stupid, like staying out when the weather changes, losing an oar, not wearing life-jackets, and simply not taking what should be routine precautions,” said Mrs Birch.