Police name man who died in water-related incident at Auckland's Whangaparaoa Peninsula

Blue sea
Photo credit: Getty Images

RNZ

Police have named the man who died in the water at Big Manly Beach on Auckland's Whangaparaoa Peninsula on Friday.

He was 65-year-old local resident Paul Ramsey.

The death has been referred to the Coroner, and a post-mortem scheduled is for this week.

Police said in a statement that their thoughts and condolences were with Ramsey's family.

His was one of six water-related deaths across the Auckland Region in the space of just three days.

Also on Friday, a person died after getting into difficulty at Narrow Neck Beach on the North Shore. They were brought to shore but could not be revived.

On Saturday, one person died in a water-related incident at an address in Takapuna and two others lost their lives after getting into trouble in the water at Piha.

A sixth death occurred yesterday afternoon, at Anchor Bay on the Tāwharanui Peninsula.

Earlier this month, provisional numbers showed 93 people had drowned in New Zealand water during 2022.

Water Safety NZ chief executive Daniel Gerrard told Morning Report the provisional figure was a "national disaster".

He said if the final tally exceeded 100 following coroner findings it would "well and truly be the worst year of the century".

RNZ