At least three people have died and two are missing after a fishing charter boat sank in stormy weather off New Zealand's north coast.
The vessel, with 10 people onboard, got into trouble and set off a distress signal on Sunday night off North Cape.
Two bodies were found in the water and recovered by helicopter on Monday morning, and a third was recovered by a search vessel, police said.
Five people were rescued and taken to Kaitaia Hospital. All were in a stable condition.
Police said major air, land and water searches were ongoing to find the two missing people.
Nick Burt, a spokesman for Maritime NZ, which is leading the search, said an emergency beacon was activated at 8pm.
A helicopter reached the remote location at 11:40pm, Mr Burt told the NZME media company.
Mr Burt said he did not know whether the skipper of the boat, owned by Enchanter Fishing Charters, had been rescued, but police were interviewing survivors.
ABC/AP
