A search for an 11-year-old boy missing after a fishing boat capsized near Auckland has been suspended.
The boy was one of four males, from Papakura, aboard a 12-foot runabout which capsized in between Coromandel and Waiheke Island about midday on Thursday.
Three people were rescued about 8am on Friday after spending about 20 hours in the water.
A police helicopter, the Westpac Rescue helicopter, a police launch and Auckland Coastguard searched for the boy on Friday, who drifted away from the others about 2am.
The search was called off about 3pm, Inspector Andy Brill of northern police communications said.
The search co-ordinators would decide whether it would resume on Saturday, he told NZ Newswire.
The group, who are all related, set off from Kawakawa Bay about 11am on Thursday, but were not reported missing until about midnight.
A yachtie rescued one male from the upturned hull of the boat, while a second male was winched on board the Westpac Rescue helicopter.
The police helicopter found the third male and a crew member jumped into the sea with a flotation device to rescue him.
A teenager and a man in his late 30s were taken to Auckland City Hospital, while a 21-year-old assisted police with the search. He was later taken to hospital.
All three were in a stable condition on Friday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman told NZ Newswire.
Maritime New Zealand deputy director Lindsay Sturt said the people were not wearing life jackets and had no means of raising the alarm, which meant "they spent 12 hours in the water even before a search began, in the middle of the night".
"We sympathise with the family in what is an extremely difficult time, and we are hoping for a positive outcome to the search, but it appears this situation could so easily have been avoided," Mr Sturt said.Our media reported that Sydney temperatures “smashed” previous records, marking Sydney’s hottest day “ever”, with bushfire warnings rising to extreme...
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