The teenager was on a road trip with a group of friends when they stopped along the darkened Tairua Whitianga Road in the town of Coromandel at 2.40am on Thursday 19 January.
According to the daily newspaper The New Zealand Herald the 19-year-old had a pee break on the side of the road when he lost his footing, hit his head and fell into a river.
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The teenager has been identified as Cameron Cumming (19) from the New Zealand town of Whitianga. The police say in a statement that their suspect is with the young man’s family, writes the newspaper.
The friends reportedly searched frantically for Cumming before calling 911.
– Light a candle
Three fire engines and ambulance workers assisted in the search. The NZ Herald writes that the 19-year-old’s body was found before 04.30 that morning. According to the newspaper, the emergency services confirm that they were notified of a missing person along the stretch of road.
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Australian News writes that the road runs along the Waiwawa – which is the Coromandel Peninsula’s longest river.
– Can everyone light a candle for my beautiful “king” Cameron. Pray for his soul to find peace. It will mean a lot to me, says the mother in a statement on Facebook, reproduced by the New Zealand news media Stuff.
The 19-year-old will be buried on Tuesday this week.
Several died
The tragic incident is said to have been the fourth fatal accident in the region in just 48 hours.
According to the NZ Herald, a surfer drowned at Opoutere Beach, north of the town of Whangamata – on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula – the day before.
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A teenager from the same group was reported missing the same day and later found drowned near the island paradise of Slipper Island.
On 17 January, a man was reported missing from Whangamata. A short time later, the man was found dead by a rescue helicopter near the river mouth.
