Please attribute to Senior Sergeant Peter Payne, Tasman District
Police are currently at the scene of a sudden death in Arahura Valley, north of Hokitika.
An elderly woman's body was recovered near the flood waters at about 9.19am this morning.
An initial scene investigation appears that the woman got out of the vehicle she was driving and tried to cross the flood waters on foot.
She has then been swept away in the strong-flowing current of surface flooding on Arahura Valley Road.
The investigation is ongoing, and her death will be referred to the coroner
Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre