Police have been hunting through the night for those responsible for a suspected double homicide in Wattle Downs, South Auckland, on Thursday.

Emergency services responded to reports of a woman unresponsive at an address on Gambare Place about 1.45pm.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and, during a search of the property, police found a man who was also pronounced dead.

Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va’aelua said the offender or offenders fled the scene prior to officers arriving.

On Thursday evening, armed police stood guard in front of the house, as neighbours looked on.

Dianna Kereopa-Turner had lived in the street her whole life. She told RNZ she had just returned home when “havoc started going on” outside.

“We thought it was our nail gun for our sleepout that we’re building going off … and then it was quite loud,” Kereopa-Turner said.

“But no, it was shooting. All we heard was gun. Then my sister came out of her room and said ‘somebody out there’s shooting’, so we gathered in whoever was loose around the house and stayed inside.”

She said the victims had only just moved in to the street: “It’s sad to know that whatever trouble was following them, obviously followed them right to the doorstep, and unfortunately it happened on this street where there’s a lot of kids and a lot of elderly people.”

Many residents had been unable to return to their homes on Gambare Place and adjoining Volante Avenue while police cordons closed the roads on Thursday afternoon, with armed police stationed at the cordons.

Another Gambare Place resident, Bobbie, said she had been at the doctors and tried to return home around 2.45pm.

“The street was already closed off, so I thought, ‘oh better shoot over to the school and pick up my niece’, got over there and it was locked down as well.”

Bobbie said they were allowed to go home just after 5pm.

She said, once home, she talked with neighbours and some were quite shocked.

While the cordon was in place, police were seen working behind a white tarpaulin on Volante Avenue. Police later confirmed staff had moved the victims to a safe location, away from the scene, to render first aid, while other staff continued working to clear the scene and make it safe.

Va’aelua said the incident appeared to be isolated, but police were not able to “rule anything out”, and were now determining the exact cricumstances of the incident.

“This is an awful set of events and no doubt unsettling for everyone involved and the wider community.”

Anyone with information on the incident that could help police with enquiries could contact 105.

rnz

Rescue teams are searching for a New Zealand teenager missing after a boat carrying him and three other people capsized in Bangladesh, officials say.

Albert, 16, whose surname was withheld by police, went missing after the boat overturned in rough waters on Tuesday morning (all times local) near an estuary off Cox’s Bazar on the country’s southeastern coast.

Do you know more? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

The other three New Zealanders on the boat were rescued by fishermen nearby.

“The Coast Guard is searching for the boy while a helicopter is conducting an aerial search. Fishermen have also been alerted about the missing teenager,” an official told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by rough conditions in the Bay of Bengal, he added.

Mohammad Ali, the officer-in-charge of Cox’s Bazar police station, said the four had been on a trip when the boat met with an accident.

Local media reports said the four were from the same family but officials were unable to confirm that information immediately.

– AFP

A man charged with human trafficking and migrant exploitation is accused of deceiving staff recruited from overseas by promising them they would be paid for all hours they worked.

One of the staff – who was recruited from India – is alleged to have been paid 36 hours per week despite working a minimum of 54 hours.

The man, listed as a company director, is also accused of failing to pay staff for working public holidays, inciting staff to breach conditions of work visas and altering employment agreements to reduce the pay rates.

RNZ earlier revealed a Christchurch man, who has interim name suppression, faced 35 charges under the Crimes Act and Immigration Act.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) earlier confirmed the charges, which relate to 11 complainants, include allegations of “trafficking in persons and migrant exploitation”.

Court documents seen by RNZ reveal the man, aged in his 50s, faces three charges of arranging, organising or procuring the recruitment of a person into New Zealand “knowing that recruitment involved one or more acts of deception”.

Two of the complainants were from India, and the third from Saudi Arabia.

The court documents say the defendant recruited them knowing that the terms and conditions of their employment would be “materially different” from what was promised verbally and in their individual employment agreement “namely that all hours he worked would be paid by the employer”.

The man also faces charges of supplying information to an immigration officer knowing that it was false or misleading, inciting or procuring people to breach the conditions of their work visas, and failing to pay minimum wage.

He also faces two charges of obtaining by deception by altering the original terms of an employment agreement to reduce pay rates.

One court document says that between November 2020 and June 2022 the man is accused of employing at least five people before their visas were approved.

INZ national manager of investigations Jason Perry earlier told RNZ the charges related to the alleged exploitation of 11 people.

“Trafficking in persons and migrant exploitation are serious offences that can have a significant impact on victims. INZ is committed to identifying, investigating and prosecuting this offending where there is sufficient evidence to do so.”

Perry said the charges followed a “complex investigation” by INZ’s immigration compliance and investigations team.

“As the matter is now before the courts, we are unable to make any further comment on the allegations, evidence, or the defendant at this time.

“INZ encourages anyone who suspects migrant exploitation or trafficking in persons offences being committed to report it so it can be assessed and investigated.”

rnz