Tauranga teenager Wiremu Rawiri will be given his final send-off today as a large crowd of family and friends gather at Huria Marae for his funeral and a procession across to the burial ground on Motuopae Island.
The 17-year-old student at Te Aute College in Hawke's Bay died after suffering an asthma attack in his hall of residence on Monday morning.
Aunt Wendy Swales said six cars and a van travelled down to the school to bring Wiremu's body home to Tauranga but by the time they returned late on Tuesday night the convoy had grown to 12 cars and two vans.
The teenager was a student at Te Akau ki Papamoa Primary School and Tauranga Intermediate and friends and staff from both schools, as well as Tauranga Boys' College, attended a tangi at the marae in Judea yesterday.
"He's going to have a huge send-off," Mrs Swales told the Bay of Plenty Times last night. "The marae is just absolutely packed with people."