KEY POINTS:
The parents of the 14-year-old Huntly boy killed after getting off a school bus yesterday were on a flight back from Australia when the boy died.
He has not been named and plans over the location of the tangi are complicated by this week's coronation of the Maori King, Tuheitia.
Tens of thousands of people will stay at marae around Huntly and Ngaruawahia to mark the one-year anniversary of Dame Te Atairangikaahu's death and the coronation of her successor.
At the scene of yesterday's death about a dozen whanau members gathered while police investigators surveyed the road and checked over the truck that hit the boy and the school bus.
About eight people joined hands in a circle and said a prayer, while others consoled each other.
Sergeant Blair Donaldson of Huntly Police said the Te Wharekura O Rakaumangamanga School (a full immersion Maori language school) student had been travelling on the school bus toward Huntly about 8am.
"The bus 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," Mr Donaldson 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."
The boy died a short time later at the scene.
Police believed the 7.5-tonne rubbish truck, belonging to Huntly Refuse, would have been in the boy's blind spot when he looked for traffic before stepping out.
Other students on the bus were from Huntly College and many saw the accident, police said.
They were offered counselling.
Senior Sergeant Bruce Lyon of the Waikato Serious Crash Unit said the left-hand front of the truck had hit the boy. Mr Lyon acknowledged the road was marked an 80km/h zone, but said speeds past any stationary bus had to be reduced to 20km/h.
The driver of the truck did not have a chance to avoid the boy, Mr Lyon said, even at the reduced speed.
The outcome was inevitably tragic: "None of us ever want to be in a position he was in."
Huntly Refuse director Matthew Baker said his company wished "to express our deepest and sincerest condolences to the family of the boy".
The driver, aged in his 40s, had been granted unlimited paid leave and offered counselling.
The area where the bus had pulled over was not a designated bus stop.
It is understood the boy had asked to get off the bus so that he could head to his parents' home, after catching the bus in a rural area.
Rakaumangamanga School deputy principal Robyn Hata said the boy had attended the school "on and off" since he was 5.
"They are a very close family. His older siblings have been [educated] here, his aunties, and his grandparents."
The family were extremely well known to teachers at the school, and the death had deeply affected staff and students.
"The little children were wondering what was going on, but the older ones had an inkling because of text messaging. His classmates were all sobbing."
She described the atmosphere at school yesterday as "sombre and silent".
All 370 students gathered for prayers and a blessing.
The boy had played rugby league, a sport he was passionate about, Ms Hata said.
Waikato Police held a press conference late yesterday to speak of their frustration at the climbing road toll in their district.
Mr Lyon said the five fatalities over the previous 60 hours and 45 deaths so far this year meant his department's workload was getting heavier every week.
"We're working on 30 files right now," he said. "Normally it's about 14."
The other fatal crashes at the weekend involved elements of speed, failure to wear seatbelts, or both, he said.
All four men who died in the three separate weekend crashes in the Waikato were aged between 18 and 23, and were occupants of powerful cars.
