New Zealand emergency services have recovered the bodies of two divers after adverse sea conditions swamped their dive boat. Another two divers from the party of four were rescued after spending 17 hours in the water.

The party of four experienced divers set out from Hawke's Bay Sports and Fishing Club at 3pm on Thursday 14 October to dive Pania Reef; a 1800m stretch of reef 4km offshore, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. After the divers had surfaced and returned to their boat, storms swamped the vessel and all four men were ditched into the sea at around 5pm.

The divers were reported missing by their families at 7am the following morning, and the New Zealand Coastguard immediately launched a search and rescue mission with two coastguard vessels, a plane and the help of numerous local fishing vessels.

Two of the divers were found alive at around 10am, and the body of a third recovered. The fourth diver remained missing.

The group had drifted a considerable distance from Pania Reef and the body of the fourth diver was recovered several hours later, close to the rivermouth at Awatoto.

Weather conditions in Hawke Bay remained bad throughout the search.

UPDATE
The names of the divers involved in the incident have now been released.
18-year-old Waiariki Taoho has been discharged from hospital
The second survivor, Gilbert Kemp, is in his 40s and is said to be in a critical condition, but is reported to be recovering from hypothermia and exhaustion in Hawke's Bay hospital.
Pana Keefe and Chris Pardoe, both aged in their 40s, did not survive.

The water temperature in Hawke's Bay is 14 degrees C.
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