The family of a Whangārei Boys’ High School student who died at Abbey Caves has thanked the work emergency service staff and others put in to find and bring him back home.
“We all felt so supported and cared for throughout the entire process. Your tireless efforts and aroha will be with us forever.”
The student disappeared after he and 14 of his Year 11 classmates, accompanied by two teachers, got into difficulty on an outdoor education trip at Abbey Caves yesterday.
The group was inside Organ Cave, described as canyon-like, when floodwaters hit shortly before 10.30am as heavy rain moved through the region.
The boy was swept away from the school group and his body was found late last night.
A public outcry blasted the school for allowing the trip to go ahead despite the region being under an orange heavy rain warning.
Ngāti Kahu o Torongare me Ngā Hapū o Whangārei has put in place a rāhui at Abbey Caves, while WorkSafe has opened an investigation into the tragedy. The Government agency won’t make further comments while the investigation was under way.
“The grieving staff and students at Whangārei Boys’ High School are held in our thoughts and support from our hapū [is] extended to them also,” it said in a social media post.
Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis was at the scene this morning and said the student’s family needed all the love and support they could get from the community.
“We need to be thinking about the other young people from the school - his friends, but also the staff as well. Everybody is really feeling for this and everyone is reeling, but the most important thing to do right now is to have care, compassion and love for those people who are affected, especially the family.”
“There will be a time for questions and those questions need to be answered, and I’m sure the school won’t shy away from participating as fully as possible, but right now, you know, we really do need to focus on just helping and supporting people.”
He said the Ministry of Education’s trauma team would be at the school today as there would be a lot of people that needed support, and that was really where the focus needed to be at present.
“There will be a lot of emotion, in particular anger as well as sadness. We’ve made the offer to be there if the school would like us to be there; they want to do things in their own way.
“It’s most important that they find their ways to recover, and I totally appreciate that they don’t want a politician there. I totally get that. But when they do want us to be there, we will be there.”
As a former school principal and teacher, Davis said it was his “worst nightmare.”
Whangārei Boys’ High School principal Karen Gilbert-Smith broke her silence five hours after the student went missing yesterday. She had spent the day at the caves while rescuers worked to find the boy.
She said a “full and comprehensive” investigation would take place.
Students who made it out safely from the outdoor education class at Abbey Caves were taken back to the school for further medical treatment and were reunited with their anxious parents waiting outside the main building.