Two police officers wading out to an overturned and nearly submerged 4WD were stunned to hear the cries of a eight-year-old girl trapped in an air pocket inside.
The girl had survived about two hours trapped in the frigid water but her nine-year-old brother was strapped into his seat and had drowned in the accident, which happened at a private gold mine south of Hokitika on Sunday.
The nine-year-old boy, originally reported to be 10, was named by police on Monday afternoon as Tayne Luca Bowes.
The Toyota Hilux, driven by the siblings’ father who worked at the mine, had rolled into the pond and filled with water.
The father managed to escape but had to run 6km to raise the alarm.
Senior Sergeant Allyson Ealam and Sergeant Russell Glue expected to find both children drowned when they arrived.
They used firefighters’ gear to smash the rear window and were stunned to hear the girl’s cry.
“We didn’t expect to hear that cry. I thought we were hearing things. Fortunately we weren’t and it was all on,” Snr Sgt Ealam told a press conference in Greymouth on Monday, Fairfax reports.
The girl was blue with cold but had managed to breathe in a small air pocket at the
