Valentino Laki (left) with girlfriend Stevie Kumeroa, who described the 16-year-old Rangitīkei College student as free-spirited. Laki, also known as Valentino Malo, drowned while swimming in a river in January 2018.
Valentino Laki (left) with girlfriend Stevie Kumeroa, who described the 16-year-old Rangitīkei College student as free-spirited. Laki, also known as Valentino Malo, drowned while swimming in a river in January 2018.
A coroner has reiterated the dangers of river swimming after Samoan teenager Valentino Laki likely drowned in the Rangitīkei River when he got into difficulty almost six years ago.
Laki was 16 and had only been living in New Zealand for nine months when he went swimming with friends and family in the river near Bulls in the Rangitīkei on January 14, 2018.
In a finding released today into the circumstances of Laki’s death, Coroner Mark Wilton said the Rangitīkei region had experienced a significant number of thunderstorms during early January that year and most rivers were running higher than average flows.
The Rangitīkei River near Bulls was not in flood but was flowing at a medium flow with discoloured water when Laki and his friends entered the water about 5pm on the hot, sunny day.
“The group noticed that the river water was very dirty but did not think it looked ‘overly dangerous’, as some of them had swum there many times before,” Coroner Wilton wrote in the findings made on the papers.
Laki was described as a poor swimmer and at one point he and the other boys waded into a deeper and faster-moving section of the river.
“A family member called out and told them to return to the shallow section. The boys started walking in knee-high water back to the calm side of the river, closer to their group.
“Valentino and his friends then reached another deeper part and lost their footing. They were swept away by the current.”
A coroner has reiterated water safety messages after finding Valentino Laki drowned when he got into difficulty in the Rangitīkei River in January 2018. Photo / Alecia Rousseau
Members of their group followed them as they were swept down the river, the coroner said.
“Valentino’s friends made it safely to the riverbank. However, Valentino did not and was seen struggling with the current.”
The teen’s hands were seen above the water before they slowly sunk under the surface.
“Valentino did not come back up. One of the adults dived in and tried to search the area where Valentino had last been seen, but the dirty water made visibility poor.”
The group sourced an inflatable boat and searched the area but could not find Laki.
Emergency services were notified, and a swift water rescue team was activated, but a frantic search of the river and riverbanks that evening failed to locate the Marton student.
A rescue helicopter also conducted an aerial search without success.
The next day members of the Police National Dive Squad arrived at the scene and at 3pm they located a body on the riverbed, near the bottom of the rock wall, close to the centre of the river.
“The body was removed from the river and confirmed to be Valentino.”
The Herald has made an approach to Laki’s family for comment.
Coroner Wilton noted that Laki had entered muddy waters and was not a strong swimmer when he was tragically swept away by the current as he and his friends tried to move to calmer waters.
He ruled the cause of death as presumed drowning with no suspicious circumstances.
The coroner did not make any recommendations but included water safety messages and advice in the findings to help raise public awareness of the dangers of swimming in rivers.
He said he was mindful of the timing of the findings being summer holidays, traditionally a time when many people engaged in recreational water activities involving rivers.
Coroner Wilton pointed to Water Safety New Zealand’s advice that swimming in rivers was fun but could be dangerous.
“Many people do not understand the force of water in a river. If you swim out of a swimming hole into the river current, you can be swept down the river by the force of the water,” the advice read.
“You could be pulled underwater by the force of the current. The current can be strong even if the river looks calm and the water is slow-moving.
“It can also be difficult to tell how deep a certain part of the river is.”
Water Safety New Zealand advises in a “Be River Safe, Swimming in Rivers Fact Sheet” that a good swimming spot has the following:
Only a very weak current;
An easy place to get in and out of the water;
An even bottom that you can see;
And a place you can get out of the water easily in case you get swept downstream.
A good swimming spot did not have muddy water where swimmers could not see the bottom.
The key message from Water Safety New Zealand to be river safe was to know the environment, supervise children and learners, and stop and think before entering the water.
Coroner Wilton endorsed the safety messages with the aim of reducing further deaths similar to the circumstances of Laki’s.
He extended his sincere condolences to the family.
Natalie Akoorie is a senior reporter based in Waikato and covering crime and justice nationally. Natalie first joined the Herald in 2011 and has been a journalist in New Zealand and overseas for 28 years, more recently covering health, social issues, local government, and the regions.
