Dramatic video shows rescue from New Zealand boat sinking that killed four

Chartered boat carrying 10 people sank early Monday morning after being caught in a storm since Sunday

Emergency services in New Zealand have released footage of a dramatic rescue operation involving a chartered boat that sank early on Monday morning after being caught in a storm.

Rescue teams on Monday said five people were rescued and the search for one final person would continue on Tuesday. At least four of the 10 people onboard were confirmed dead.

Video footage of the rescue operation, shot by Northland Emergency Services Trust from a rescue helicopter, showed a man clinging to the wreckage of the fishing boat.

“Clearances are good. At your discretion, if you want to tack right to the target. At 40 feet, 35, 30,” one of the rescuers can be heard saying, as another reaches the sea.

The man clinging to the wreckage then stretches his arm out and is grabbed by the rescuer.

Enchanter, the charter vessel operating out of the northern port of Mangonui, sank at around 2.30am on Monday.

The vessel had left Mangonui on Thursday with two crew and eight passengers aboard for a planned five-day fishing trip to the remote Three Kings Islands.

The boat was caught in a storm on Sunday after which its emergency beacon was activated at 8pm off North Cape.

Due to thunderstorms, rescuers said the first rescue helicopters reached the boat only at around midnight.

Nick Burt, Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre spokesperson, told New Zealand’s AM network on Monday night that teams are doing everything they can to find the final missing person.

Authorities said three boats, two helicopters and one airplane are continuing the search for the missing person on Tuesday in marginal conditions.

Police divers are also checking the wreckage of the Enchanter.

Police teams had said on Monday that two bodies were found by rescue helicopters while two others were found by search boats.

The five people who were rescued were admitted to Kaitaia Hospital and later discharged.