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One person has died and another was rescued after a boat overturned crossing the���䲹�ٱ����Բ���River bar this morning during a 60th birthday fishing trip, sparking a rescue mission amid rough conditions.��

Police confirmed this afternoon that they had recovered a body following the boating mishap.��

Shortly before noon, police earlier said a search was under way for the missing person after it received reports of a capsized vessel near Jacks Bay in South Otago about 10.40am.��

Another person who was on board was spotted on some rocks nearby and later taken by rescue helicopter to Dunedin Hospital in moderate condition.��

A helicopter assisted with an aerial search for the missing person, while Coastguard Bluff and Coastguard Dunedin volunteers and rescue vessels assisted in searching the water.��

The body was found on a nearby beach. Searchers also located a second person on some rocks nearby, along with a dog.��

Surat Bay Lodge co-owner Ester Johnson said this morning she could see, using binoculars, the boat overturned near the river bar, about 2km from Pounawea.��

“It’s upside down,” she said.��

Another boat was nearby assisting with the rescue, she said.��

“It’s so rough.”��

This afternoon, Johnson said she had been told one of the men had died as she saw rescue boats and emergency services returning.��

She knew both men who were on the boat well, she said. They had been celebrating a 60th birthday of the man who had survived, she said.��

“The boat is really smashed,” she said.��

Boats return along the Catlins River today after a vessel overturned with one person missing and another rescued and taken to hospital. Photo / Ester Johnson, Surat Bay Lodge��

St John referred further inquiries on the status of the other person to police, who confirmed the recovery of the body shortly before 3.30pm.��

Coastguard vessels from Bluff and Dunedin helped in the search, alongside the rescue helicopter.��

The view south from Jack's Bay near where the boat overturned while crossing the Catlins River bar, sparking a search on August 17, 2024.��

Johnson said while conditions today were rough it was not too windy. It was the third time a boat had rolled crossing the bar in recent memory, she said.��

She later said she saw the emergency services vehicles and rescue boat returning.��

A Fire and Emergency NZ southern shift supervisor confirmed a crew from Owaka station had been sent to help with the rescue.��