A Rotorua man had no chance of surviving after accidentally losing his balance and falling into an extremely hot thermal pool, a coroner has ruled.
The findings of the coroner’s inquiry into the disappearance of Matthew Tuimaualuga were released on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old father was “loved and respected”, Coroner Ian Telford said, adding Tuimaualuga’s young son meant everything to him.
“He was ‘always happy’ particularly when he was around his family”, had a good attitude and was a hard worker who remained positive even when out of work.
Tuimaualuga’s family were in court “in force” for the hearing, and his mother appeared via AVL link from Australia.
The coroner’s findings
On the evening of February 12, 2024 Tuimaualuga’s partner drove him and two associates to a bank to withdraw some money.
She then drove to a bottle shop where Tuimaualuga bought a box of beers before she dropped the three men off at Kuirau Park.
In the early hours of February 13, 2024 Tuimaualuga was drinking at a bar in Rotorua and left about 2.30am with three men.
The findings say the men “were all intoxicated with alcohol when they left”.
Two of the men and Tuimaualuga walked to a thermal pool behind the Rydges Hotel in Rotorua, bypassed the fencing and entered the thermal pool area. They sat there drinking and smoking cannabis, the coroner said.
“I note the evidence of Matthew’s partner at the time that he would become particularly ‘wasted’ if he drank alcohol and took cannabis together. I therefore infer that at this point he was grossly intoxicated.”
Telford said the thermal pool in question was always extremely hot, between 85 and 95 degrees Celsius.
As the group went to leave, the two men saw Tuimaualuga fall into the pool and disappear under water.
“The men thereafter saw no sign of him and after a time left the area and went back to their respective homes. They both returned later in the day searching for Matthew and after not being able to locate him, they made a report to the police.”
The findings say police found what they have described as “biological matter” on the surface of the pool and sent this for testing. A post-mortem was undertaken.
“DNA analysis of some of the human remains was matched with samples taken from a toothbrush believed to belong to Matthew. This toothbrush was taken from Matthew’s home and the evidence indicates that it was highly unlikely to have belonged to any other person. These DNA profiles match.”
Family members who gave evidence confirmed that they have neither seen nor heard from Matthew since his disappearance.
There has been no activity on Tuimaualuga’s social media or bank account since his disappearance.
Clothing and footwear found on top of the thermal pool have been identified as those belonging to Matthew, and they have been cross-referenced with contemporary CCTV footage, the finding said.
Circumstantial evidence indicates Tuimaualuga died shortly after falling into the thermal pool, the coroner said.
“I find it most likely that Matthew simply lost his footing upon standing and fell into the pool. It is likely that intoxication played a part in him losing his balance combined with the fact that he was standing on very rough uneven terrain.”
Telford said “there was no chance of him surviving this accident” and even if Tuimaualuga had been rescued immediately from the pool “he would still have died, albeit some time later”.
“Ultimately I find that Matthew’s death was due to an unfortunate accident.”
rnz.co.nz
