A 9-year-old from Fiji - believed to be in NZ for the Parachute music festival - was fighting for her life last night after nearly drowning in a motel pool.

A Romanian man who disappeared while volunteering with the Department of Conservation on a remote island likely drowned, a coroner has found.

The death of a 13-year-old girl after a boat capsized in rough weather in South Otago yesterday afternoon has left the community in shock.

Men and preschoolers are over-represented in our drowning toll, Water Safety NZ warns.

A police search yesterday failed to find 40-year-old Aucklander Peato Samele Ilalio, who is presumed drowned after he went missing while fishing from Kauri Point.

A 9-year-old Papamoa girl who dragged a young boy from the surf has shrugged off her hero status and says she was just doing what she has been trained to do.

A young fisherman was rescued from treacherous surf by relatives yesterday, but his brother and brother-in-law died in one of the worst drowning tragedies of the summer.

A haunting wail echoed across the Whakatane River as a grieving relative watched police bringing 13-year-old Lance Tikitere Fitzgerald's lifeless body to the surface.

Less than a week after injuring her shoulder taking down a man with a sawn-off shotgun, an off-duty policewoman dived into a river to save a girl from drowning.

A woman who died at a public pool in Wellington this morning has been identified as 49-year-old Motuiliu Groom.

Lifeguards and swimmers tried desperately to revive a woman who died after aqua-jogging at a public pool in Wellington this morning.

The wife of a man who died while checking his crayfish pots on Tuesday says her husband loved nothing more than his garden and fishing.

The body of a second fisherman who had been missing since a boat capsized off the Kaikoura coastline yesterday morning has been recovered.

The father and daughter who died in a tragic kayaking accident on Lake Tarawera yesterday have been named by police.

An autistic boy who went missing yesterday has been found drowned in a swimming pool near his Feilding home.

A search has resumed for a New Zealand man who is feared drowned after he jumped into rough seas to save a friend off a beach near Melbourne.

A man and his nephew who drowned while trying to save a little girl were preparing for a big week of celebrations, including the young victim's eighth birthday.

A 7-year-old boy and his 22-year-old uncle who drowned in northern Hawke's Bay yesterday have been named by police.

A 7-year-old boy and his 22-year-old uncle drowned when they went to rescue a young relative who was swept into the sea on the East Coast this afternoon.

This summer, water safety messages will be seen on 600,000 tray mats in KFC restaurants around the country.

A dangerous Coromandel beach is proving so popular with tourists it is feared lives will be lost unless it is patrolled for six months each year.

An off-duty teen lifeguard saved four people within an hour during a day of high drama at a popular beach yesterday.

A push to make wearing lifejackets compulsory on the Waitemata Harbour to save lives is expected to be strongly opposed by boaties.

Mystery continues to surround the death of a young man whose body was found on Ninety Mile Beach in 2011, an inquest heard today.