Police resume search for elderly hunter

The police dive squad is involved in the search. File photo / Alan Gibson

Police have resumed their search for an elderly hunter believed to have been swept down a Bay of Plenty river on Saturday.

The 70-year-old man had been hunting with another man when their dogs chased a pig across the Kaituna River in Paengaroa, 10km south east of Te Puke.

The hunters tried to swim across the river about 5.30pm to continue the chase and there had been no sign of the man since.

Police search and rescue were joined today by the Coastguard and police dive squad, and were searching in the area where he went missing, Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders, of Tauranga police, said.

The search area could later be extended to include the Kaituna Cut, where the river meets the sea, Mr Saunders said.

Search and rescue members had earlier scoured the river banks and a boat had done a sweep of the river on Saturday and Sunday.

The Okere Gates on the Kaituna River were closed yesterday afternoon to lower the river level to help the search, a Bay of Plenty Regional Council spokesperson said.

It was not known when normal flows would resume.

- NZPA