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Two girls are being hailed as heroes after scaring off a man attempting to abduct a five-year-old at a bus stop in rural Taranaki.
The boy was waiting for the school bus at Okato, 26km southwest of New Plymouth, on Thursday morning when a strange man in a car stopped and tried to force him into the vehicle.
But the two girls, aged eight and five, grabbed hold of the boy and screamed as loud as they could scaring off the would-be abductor.
Constable Richard Corry, of Okato, said yesterday the girls did an amazing job.
"People don't stop and grab children on the side of the road for no reason at all," he told the Taranaki Daily News.
The man's behaviour was a big concern to police.
He appealed for any witnesses to the incident.
"It is a reasonably busy stretch of road."
The man was described as European, aged between late 20s and late 40s.
Mr Corry said the children, who were all pupils at Coastal School, were only on their own for about 15 minutes.
He advised parents to supervise their children until they got on the bus.
Coastal School principal Allan Miles said teachers and students were upset by what had happened.
- NZPA
