Body in hot pool local man (+ video)

Police believe the body found in a Kuirau Park hot pool yesterday is a local man.

In a statement released this morning police said a post mortem will be carried out in Auckland today but it is not anticipated that they will be able to confirm the man's identity until Thursday at the earliest.

A large area of the public park, opposite Rotorua Hospital, was cordoned off yesterday as police officers, detectives and fire crews worked to remove the body from a hot pool in a fenced area. Police were alerted to the adult body at 1.20pm when a tourist reported "something of concern in the pool".

Visitors and locals stopped to watch the recovery operation at the cordons, which in its final stages was conducted behind screens. The covered body was later taken on a stretcher to a waiting hearse.

Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said the death had been referred to a coroner and police would be working to identify the person's identity.

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• Video: Emergency services at Kuirau Park
• Video: The hot pool

He said there were no suspicious circumstances at this stage.

"We are dealing with this as an unexplained death at the moment. We're very pleased with the way this recovery has gone. It's obviously a tricky operation, both for the staff's safety - consideration for our people. But also doing it in such a way to give dignity to the person there ... we actually contacted local iwi and there has been a blessing at the site so all those protocols have been covered," he said.

Cordons were taken down and the park area reopened after the body was removed, just before 5pm.

"There is nothing to suggest at this stage that any of the things to keep people safe have been compromised in this area. "The fence around the pool is intact and all the safety notices. So we have an open mind about how this occurred but our focus isn't on a safety issue at this stage," Mr Horne said.

Police chaplain and St Faith's Church vicar Reverend Tom Poata was called to the scene to conduct the blessing. He said a karakia (prayer) and sprinkled water at the area.

"The person had their dignity and a life and it was about easing that and acknowledging that someone is going to hear some terribly, sad news," Mr Poata.

A tourist from England, who did not want to be named, was among onlookers. "We just dropped in to see the hot pools and geysers and saw all the police tape," she said. "It hasn't put us off our trip but it is a bit scary if someone was hurt."

The last hot pool related death at Kuirau Park was in 2010. A 10-year-old boy fell into a pool on Boxing Day and suffered severe burns. He later died.