Five students die in river tragedy 

Five students are dead after being swept away while canyoning down a river in the central North Island.

Efforts continue to locate another three missing high school students, who were swept down the flooded Mangatepopo River between Turangi and Ngauruhoe.

The students were all from a college in east Auckland and were in the Tongariro National Park when they were caught off guard by rising waters.

The students were on a week-long trip to the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits centre when the disaster struck. The 16 and 17-year-olds were part of a group of 40 year 12 students from Elim Christian College in Howick, Auckland.

ONE News understands people gathered at the college for a prayer service on Tuesday night. The college did not want to comment other than to give a statement.

"Our board of trustees and staff are waiting for further updates from police, who are co-ordinating everything. Our prayers are with the students, the teachers and their parents," said Phil Gaze, spokesperson.

The students had been canyoning in a gorge when seven got into difficulty just after 4pm on Tuesday.  

The river had risen significantly due to bad weather as they tried to make their way back to safety. 
 
By Tuesday night, search efforts were being hampered by the bad weather and darkness. 100 millimetres of rain had fallen there in 24 hours.

A helicopter swept the river before dark and another with night vision capability was called in.

Earlier, the severe storm claimed its first victim when a 50-year-old man was killed by a lightning as he rode his horse in the Northland hunt near Dargaville.

Six other riders were struck by the fork lightning. Four were injured and taken to Whangarei Base Hospital.