KEY POINTS:
A West Coast hunter has drowned trying to cross a flooded Haast River.
Searchers found the man's body this morning after searching since yesterday.
Senior Constable Robin Manera told NZPA two hunters went up the river by jetboat on Tuesday planning to hunt separately. The boat driver dropped his friend off and went on upriver, planning to reunite later.
But the river dropped and he was unable to return to pick up his mate.
Both spent the night out, with the boat driver sleeping in his craft and the other man camping out further downstream.
Mr Manera said the boat driver sought help from members of the public and a local jetboat operator reached him yesterday morning. They returned to where the other hunter should have been waiting only to find a pile of his clothes and a rifle on the riverbank, indicating he'd tried to cross the river.
Police Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers using a helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and a jetboat searched unsuccessfully for the man throughout the day.
A helicopter pilot found the man's body about 9am today near the Haast Bridge, some 11km downstream from where his gear was found.
Mr Manera said the man's name would be released when his next of kin had been informed.
- NZPA
