New Zealand man livestreams his own death

A man who died after falling into a manhole and drowning in the New Zealand floods had been livestreaming to social media at the time.

A man who died after falling into a manhole and drowning in the New Zealand floods had been livestreaming to social media at the time.

Daniel Mark Miller, a 34-year-old father of two, had been filming himself walking through a submerged street in Wairau Valley, Auckland, in January.

The region was being battered by heavy storms and a summer‘s worth of rainfall that would lead to widespread destruction and the deaths of four people.

Mr Miller‘s father Steve was watching his son’s livestream when the footage cut out leading him to believe that his son had simply dropped his phone in the water.

He later learned the 34-year-old had actually fallen into a manhole and drowned after the cover came off during the storm.

Daniel had been attempting to help those in the neighbourhood throughout the flood.

A man who died after falling into a manhole and drowning in the New Zealand floods had been livestreaming to social media at the time.

“This is all bad … something’s telling me to go up and check on the people in this house, so I’m going to,” he can be heard saying.

“He was always the guy who wants to give help,” Steve told the New Zealand Herald on Sunday.

Steve spent the entire night anxiously attempting to get in contact with his son and tried to contact his flatmates when he was unable to reach him.

Police arrived at his house the next morning to notify him that his son‘s body had been recovered in a culvert on Target Road in Wairau Valley.

“I was in disbelief, as on the livestream, you could see people only a few metres away from him,” Steve said.

“It (the livestream) was on his Facebook page but I’ve deleted it. I watched it too many times and it kept looping over in my head for days.”

Steve has since ventured to the manhole where his son perished, where flowers and a cross now lay as a memorial.

Daniel’s friend Tony Hudson told 1News that he had seen numerous manhole covers that had become detached during the flooding.

Daniel Mark Miller, a 34-year-old father of two, had been filming himself walking through a submerged street in Wairau Valley, Auckland, in January.

He has urged local authorities to provide more safety features to manholes so further accidents don‘t occur.

“We need to have more awareness, like signs, especially around where it floods, they shouldn’t be able to just unlock and float away like that,” Mr Hudson said.

Executive Director of Auckland Council’s Watercare, Andrew Chin, said the council has used manholes to gain access to storm water channels, but some manhole covers can come off during severe storms when water systems become backlogged.

However, some manhole covers in flood-prone areas are fitted with hinges or safety nets to help prevent accidents.

“We’re also looking to improve the capacity of the stormwater system in some places to reduce the likelihood, but the whole design approach that we take is one of progressively reduce the risk to the community,” Mr Chin told 1News.

Originally published as New Zealand man livestreams his own death