Friday, August 14, 2009

One Boat Missing Off New Zealand's Whangarei Coast

A boat with four people on board, went missing off New Zealand Northland's Whangarei early Friday, police said. A search was underway in atrocious weather off the coast of Whangarei. The boat, East Coaster, issued a mayday call before 1:30 a.m. Friday (13:30 GMT Thursday).Contact was then lost and a Coastguard boat and navy vessel began a search, which is being hampered by poor weather. A rescue helicopter sent from Whangarei had to return because of the poor weather. A plane was on its way from Taupo on Friday morning to join the search. The search area spans from Whangarei to the area around the Henand Chicken Islands, about 12 nautical miles away.

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