Kay Dah Ukay and Mu Thu Pa will be farewelled by their nine children at funeral on Friday.

Former refugees Kay Dah Ukay and his wife Mu Thu Pa were fishing when tragedy struck.

A man and woman have drowned after being swept off rocks at Muriwai Beach in West Auckland.

A man and woman have drowned after being swept off rocks at Muriwai Beach.

Drowning rate among under-fives a "genuine and serious concern", Water Safety NZ says.

Widow faced "torturous" cultural prosecution when she returned to India after the tragedy

Roxburgh Volunteer Fire Brigade paid a heartfelt tribute to their fallen station officer.

"I couldn't find him, I didn't know where he was, I just lost sight of him."

"I couldn't find him, I didn't know where he was."

Three people died over the weekend in drowning incidents in the Auckland region.

Rescuer Simon Chaplin speaks to the Herald about the tragic events on the Awhitu peninsula. Video/Greg Bowker

Couple tell of taking kayak out to save children, but it was too late for their father.

Pair who died at Cascade Falls were keen football players at Massey High School.

Person plucked from water at popular Auckland beach.

More women, children and elderly died in New Zealand waters.

A 37-year-old woman has drowned at Taharoa Domain, Omamari, in Northland.

Record numbers of beach goers and rescues this summer have left lifeguards shattered.

Rescuer meets friends of Hemin Limbachiya who drowned after asking that his wife be saved.

Volunteer lifeguards hailed after dozens of surf rescues over the weekend.

Body recovered after 16-year-old feared swept away.

The 16-year-old nearly drowned trying to save two swimmers on Sunday.

Twice as many Aucklanders drowned in preventable tragedies last year than in 2016.

Renee Hodgkinson is being remembered as an intelligent, quirky, and vibrant person.

Whanganui mum Holly Toohill said she has nightmares about the day her son nearly drowned.

The free-spirited woman who died at Maruia Falls was a "beautiful soul", friends say.

The Motukea woman who drowned at Maruia Falls on Saturday has been named.

Woman drowns at Maruia Falls in upper South Island.

Peter Sykes and Avalina Cook at the Mangere East Hawks rugby league club rooms talk about the late New Zealand Warrior Rugby League player Sonny Fai.

The coroner has now released her findings into the 2015 double drowning.

Drowning is the fourth biggest unintentional cause of death in New Zealand.