One person with serious injuries has been flown to hospital by helicopter after an incident at a Dunedin beach this afternoon.
A police spokesperson said they were notified “of a man jumping into the water at Tunnel Beach”, about 1.30pm on Sunday.
“The man appeared injured and emergency services were called.”
Police were at the scene to manage the public and to close the Tunnel Beach carpark so a helicopter could land to airlift the man to hospital, the spokesperson said.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson described it as a “fall incident”.
“Our crews assessed and treated one patient who was airlifted to Christchurch hospital in a serious condition”, the spokesperson said.
The Tunnel Beach carpark was cordoned off about 2.30pm while emergency services transported the injured person into the rescue helicopter.
A woman at the scene said a patient had been winched from the beach, and was suspended under the helicopter.
They were lowered onto a stretcher in the carpark and then, when the helicopter landed, loaded into it.
Another woman said she had been told a person had been injured while jumping into the sea from a cliff.
About a dozen people watched the helicopter land — cars were backed about 100m up Tunnel Beach Rd while the carpark was cordoned off.
A police car and an ambulance were also in attendance.