ISSUE
Friday, August 22, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 73
A 27-year-old Indian student has died following an accident at Omanawa Falls lake in South Tauranga.
Kishore Kumar Aravindan went to the picturesque waterfall with his two classmates on Sunday, April 22 for the weekend holiday. Kishore’s friends Ashwin Balasubramaniam and Pravallika Samuthirarajan were taking pictures at the cliff when they decided to go to the falls at around 2:30 p.m.
As per reliable sources, Pallavi and Kishore were taking pictures in the fall when a sudden gush of water pulled them into the stream.
Their friend Ashwin rushed to the ground for help and called the emergency number 111 as there was no network near the water. The emergency services arrived around after 3 p.m. and pulled the Pravallika through the helicopter winch and left her with the ambulance. Kishore was nowhere to be found in the water.
Pallavi was then taken to the Waikato Hospital in an ambulance and treated there.
The Helicopter after refuelling at Tauranga Hospital went back to the gorge to look if the body had surfaced. The rescue helicopter abandoned the search around 30 minutes later as it became unsafe to continue the operation.
The Tauranga City Council spokesman Warren Aitken said a gate blocking access to Omanawa Falls had been cut at some point.
The Police National Dive Squad started the rescue operation again on Monday, April 23. Kishore’s two friends along with other students from Waikato University were present near the scene at the time of search on Monday.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. the rescue team reported to have found the body of Kishore.
Kishore and his two friends came to New Zealand in November 2017 as students to pursue a postgraduate course in Business and Management at Waikato University. The trio became friends then and were classmates.
The death has been referred to the coroner.
More to come.
A 27-year-old Indian student has died following an accident at Omanawa Falls lake in South Tauranga.
Kishore Kumar Aravindan went to the picturesque waterfall with his two classmates on Sunday, April 22 for the weekend holiday. Kishore’s friends Ashwin Balasubramaniam and Pravallika Samuthirarajan...
A 27-year-old Indian student has died following an accident at Omanawa Falls lake in South Tauranga.
Kishore Kumar Aravindan went to the picturesque waterfall with his two classmates on Sunday, April 22 for the weekend holiday. Kishore’s friends Ashwin Balasubramaniam and Pravallika Samuthirarajan were taking pictures at the cliff when they decided to go to the falls at around 2:30 p.m.
As per reliable sources, Pallavi and Kishore were taking pictures in the fall when a sudden gush of water pulled them into the stream.
Their friend Ashwin rushed to the ground for help and called the emergency number 111 as there was no network near the water. The emergency services arrived around after 3 p.m. and pulled the Pravallika through the helicopter winch and left her with the ambulance. Kishore was nowhere to be found in the water.
Pallavi was then taken to the Waikato Hospital in an ambulance and treated there.
The Helicopter after refuelling at Tauranga Hospital went back to the gorge to look if the body had surfaced. The rescue helicopter abandoned the search around 30 minutes later as it became unsafe to continue the operation.
The Tauranga City Council spokesman Warren Aitken said a gate blocking access to Omanawa Falls had been cut at some point.
The Police National Dive Squad started the rescue operation again on Monday, April 23. Kishore’s two friends along with other students from Waikato University were present near the scene at the time of search on Monday.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. the rescue team reported to have found the body of Kishore.
Kishore and his two friends came to New Zealand in November 2017 as students to pursue a postgraduate course in Business and Management at Waikato University. The trio became friends then and were classmates.
The death has been referred to the coroner.
More to come.
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