Searchers scour rivers, lake for four men feared drowned

Searches are to resume today for four people presumed drowned in three separate incidents at the weekend.

A 25-year-old man was missing after jumping off rocks at Lake Karapiro in the Waikato yesterday. The police dive squad scoured water near Keilly's Landing after the man jumped in at 4.40pm and did not resurface. The squad searched until dark.

Two surfcasters are also presumed to have drowned at the Waikato River mouth on Saturday.

The men, one 19 and the other in his 30s, were fishing at the southern end of Karioitahi Beach when they disappeared about 9.40am.

Two companions were forced to stand and watch as their friends vanished. They then drove off to get help.

Sunset Beach Surf Club president Malcolm Beattie, who joined the search, said the 19-year-old seemed to have snagged his fishing line. He probably went into the river to free the line, but did not realise how deep it was.

It appeared that the older man went in to help the teenager, but he also got in trouble.

The two other men, who had been standing on the bank, drove 2km up the beach to the Karioitahi Surf Life Saving Club to raise the alarm.

Lifesavers searched for the pair, with the help of the Westpac rescue helicopter and Coastguard, for about 2 1/2 hours.

"It was an in-coming tide, but it was ripping through there pretty damn quickly," Mr Beattie said. "Maybe if they had not panicked they could have drifted up river and into the banks."

The group were friends and cousins, and the missing men were from Otara.

Mr Beattie said the spot was commonly used for fishing.

The fourth man was missing after leaping off the Mataura bridge into the Mataura River in Southland on Saturday night to help a friend who had jumped moments earlier.

Police said dairy farm worker Martin Berends, 19, and three friends had discussed going off the bridge before one of the group, a 14-year-old girl, jumped.

Mr Berends followed after the girl got into trouble. She managed to grab the edge of a bluff but Mr Berends got into difficulty and disappeared downstream.

- additional reporting: Juliet Rowan