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.
According to Kishore’s friend Ashwin, Pallavi and Kishore were taking pictures in the waterfall 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 3 p.m. and pulled 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 Police National Dive Squad was brought in to search for Kishore Aravindan- Picture- Matt Shand/Stuff.co.nz
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 the 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.
Kishore’s uncle has travelled from India earlier in the week to complete formalities in Wellington and take the body back to his family in Chennai.
“Kishore had student insurance, and the Waikato University has generously come forward to help with the financials of the body repatriation process,” Senthil Stapatty, president of the Tamil Society of Waikato told The Indian Weekender.
“Once the formalities are done in Wellington, Kishore’s body will be flown back to India on Friday, April 27. Details of the flight are yet to be confirmed by the funeral directors,” Senthil added.
Kishore’s father in a conversation with the authorities in New Zealand offered to donate his son’s organs so that someone needy might use it. Since the body was in the water for almost a day, the organs could not be taken for transplant.
“The body was in the water for approximately 24 hours, and hence the organs will not in a healthy condition to be transplanted. Thus, organ donation could not be carried out,” Senthil Sabapathy said.
The community is traumatised by this incident and has asked to raise more awareness amongst new migrants to be more careful around water bodies.
The authorities arranged a one-hour viewing service for the students and the community on Wednesday, April 25, in Hamilton.
Kishore’s body will be flown on Friday, April 27 and funeral will be held in his hometown in Chennai, India.
ISSUE
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