KEY POINTS:
Children swimming in a Bay of Plenty river found a body last night.
The children were swimming in the Tarawera River at Kawerau, 60km northeast of Rotorua, when they found the body.
Two boys found the body about 7pm. However, it was trapped under tree roots in a fast flowing section of the river and could not be retrieved.
Kawerau police said the area had been cordoned off and the death was being treated as suspicious.
Senior Sergeant Mark van der Kley said the body was "trapped under the roots of trees".
A young male from the area has been reported missing but police had been unable to identify the body.
"At this stage we don't know if it is Pakeha or Maori, male or female," he said.
A towing company has erected a winch across the river to allow rescuers access to the body.
Police were to launch a scene examination at 9am and hoped to retrieve the body today.
- NZPA, DAILY POST
