MEDIA RELEASE
WAIKATO POLICE DISTRICT
13 August 2007
Police are investigating the fifth fatality on Waikato roads in four days following the death of a schoolboy in Huntly this morning.
Sergeant Blair Donaldson of Huntly Police said the 14-year-old Rukumangu School student had been travelling on a school bus towards the town about 8am.
"The bus has stopped at the corner of Porritt Ave and Rotowaro Rd and the young man has gotten off to go home and get some school books," he said.
"He looked to the rear of the bus and then walked around the front of it to cross the road, straight into the path of the truck that struck him down.
He died a short time later at the scene.
Police believe the truck would have been in the boy's blind spot when he looked for traffic before stepping out.
The other students on the bus were from Huntly College and have all been traumatised by the incident. They are currently being offered victim support counselling.
Mr Donaldson said though the schoolboy's family has been notified of the tragedy his name has not yet been released.
This is because his next of kin are currently out of town.
END