Five dead, three missing in New Zealand boat accident

Five people are dead and three others are missing after a boating accident in New Zealand, police said.

Inspector Duncan Hall said a boat carrying 11 people got into trouble in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland on Saturday.

He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to hospital. He said rescuers also recovered five bodies.

Mr Hall said in a statement that the boat had been reported as overdue to emergency services. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water. He said conditions on Saturday were poor, with large sea swells.

He said teams had ended an aerial search for the missing people and would resume searching again early Sunday.

Television New Zealand reported the vessel was a chartered fishing boat and that rescuers had arrived in helicopters, plucking the survivors from the water and placing them on a beach, where locals kept them warm while waiting for ambulances.