Palmerston North Ahimate Reserve drownings: Council, police say don't swim after multiple deaths

Myanmar refugees Mu Mu, 27, and Blae Ler Paw, 11, reportedly drowned in the Manawatū River on December 29.

Palmerston North City Council is urging people not to swim at Ahimate Reserve, after four drownings in the area in the past week.

The bodies of two men were pulled from the Manawatū River yesterday afternoon, just days after a woman and young girl, refugees from Myanmar, drowned in the same section of Palmerston North river.

A Facebook message from the city council on Sunday evening says it was devastated about the drownings at the river beach, and their thoughts were with the family and friends of those who had died.

"For now, both police and us here at council are asking you all to not swim at Ahimate," the Facebook statement says.

"A rahui remains in place along this stretch of the river, and we'll also be installing some signs asking people to avoid swimming.

"We want you all to be safe and your loved ones to have you at home. Please head to one of our swimming facilities or one of the beaches instead."

Two more swimmers missing just days after a Burmese refugee girl, 11, and woman, 27, drowned in notoriously dangerous Manawatū River in Palmerston North, via @nzherald https://t.co/eBCABIns0r

— Tom Dillane (@tomdillane1) January 2, 2022

It also thanked police and rescue teams who had assisted with searches over the past week.

Ahimate Reserve in Awapuni is a 22 hectare riverside park, home to a popular beach, a dog agility park and fenced enclosure, mountain bike tracks and a natural playground.

It has been previously described in a council pamphlet as "one of Palmy's best swim spots".

However the council website now lists it as a "dangerous spot to swim", saying they no longer recommend swimming there as of January 2022.

Police confirmed they responded to a water-related incident yesterday in the Manawatū River after receiving reports from the public just after 5.30pm.

Later yesterday evening, police confirmed the bodies of two men who were swimming in the river near Awapuni had been recovered.

Searchers recovered the men's bodies at a nearby location on the Manawatū River a short time after reports of their going missing. Police are making inquiries in relation to the deaths on behalf of the coroner.

It was a terrible day for water incidents nationwide, with two people airlifted from Auckland's west coast after getting into trouble in the water after 6pm yesterday.

Yesterday's incident in the Manawatū River comes after an 11-year-old girl's body was recovered from the same area of the river on New Year's Eve.

The search for the 27-year-old woman she was swimming with on December 29 had been continuing until yesterday, but shortly after 10pm police reported they believed to have recovered the body of the woman.

While formal identification has yet to take place, police said they believe the body to be the missing 27-year-old woman - Myanmar refugee Mu Mu.