Toddler wandered off to death
A toddler believed to have drowned in a Northland creek had wandered a short distance from her home.
Kaitaia police Senior Sergeant Geoff Ryan said the 18-month-old girl was found in the Waipapakauri Creek, about 13km northwest of Kaitaia, about 11.30am on Sunday.
The girl was rushed to Kaitaia Hospital, but attempts to resuscitate her were not successful.
Mr Ryan said the matter would be referred to the Northland coroner.
It is the second drowning in Northland in 2013.
Campesi Gino Huch, 19, a Samoan resident who had been staying with family in Auckland, died after getting into difficulty on January 8 at the Lily pond on the Waitangi River at Haruru Falls.
Police say Mr Huch disappeared in the water and efforts to bring him to the surface were unsuccessful.
He was eventually removed from the water, but efforts to revive him by a St John paramedic failed.
Figures from Water Safety New Zealand show that of the five people who drowned in Northland last year, the youngest was under 4 years old.
The other victims were between 5 and 14 years old, 25 and 34, 55 and 64 and one man was older than 65. All were male.
Northland's drowning toll for 2011 was 14.
Drowning is consistently the third-highest cause of unintentional death in New Zealand. It is surpassed only by road vehicle crashes and accidental falls.
