Swimmers caught out by rips at northern beaches

Surf Life Saving’s Northern Region, which covers Auckland, Northland, and Raglan, said 46 people were rescued across its beaches on the weekend – the first hot Saturday of the season, Stuff reports. One of the mass rescues was at Auckland’s Muriwai, and involved 13 people being brought back to shore. They got into strife when a couple of rips suddenly opened up while several hundred swimmers were in the water. Ops manager James Lea said, “The lifeguards were working really hard… just to be as proactive and as preventative as possible, but sometimes when these sudden shifts move with the water people do get into trouble quickly.”