Woman who died at Kawerau Sequal Sawmill was Melanie Leanne King

The woman who died in a workplace incident at a Kawerau sawmill has been named.

She was 39-year-old Melanie Leanne King of Kawerau, police said in a statement.

King died after emergency services were alerted to reports of a person trapped under a pile of timber at Sequal Sawmill on Manukorihi Drive on October 5.

Hours after the incident, Sequal Sawmill executive director David Turner gave an emotional statement outside the site.

"It was someone who's very close to us all so it's very painful," he said.

"Obviously, we're co-operating with the necessary authorities around the investigation but at the moment we're really focused on the team and the family.

"Our focus is to support the team."

The death had been referred to the coroner and WorkSafe would be investigating.