Search launched for missing Kiwi

Australian emergency services are teaming up to find a New Zealander who went missing off the north Queensland coast this afternoon. The 22-year-old male jumped into the water from a charter boat at moored at Marcona Inlet at Hook Island, a popular tourist spot in the Whitsunday Islands, and those onboard lost sight of him soon after. Whitsunday water police acting Senior Seargent Tim Henderson said police were notified at 12:50, and a search and rescue effort had been developed with the Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra. The operation was being led by the Queensland police. "At the moment we are utilising police vessels and volunteer marine rescue vessels to assist with the search and we're also utilising the central Queensland rescue helicopters to assist with an aerial search. "The state emrgency service has also been advised and they may be deployed this afternoon or tomorrow morning to conduct island searches." Henderson said the man's family in New Zealand had been notified and they were preparing to tell his relatives living in Australia. Police were now collecting statements from everyone onboard and the owners of the vessel. Henderson said the region had been experiencing consistent rain for the past day, but it had not yet affected the rescue operation.