Waipukurau's Mt Herbert Road. Photo: Kate Green / RNZ
A child has died after an accident involving a vehicle at a residential property in Central Hawke's Bay on Thursday morning.
Police said a child was found in a critical condition at the property on Mt Herbert Road, near the Waipukurau town centre, just before 8am.
CPR was carried out but the child died at the scene.
There have been media reports the child was three, and it was the father behind the wheel.
An investigation has begun into what happened. Officers had since left the scene, and were offering support to the child's family, police said in a statement.
Waipukurau. Photo: Kate Green / RNZ
Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker said the death was intensely personal for the local community, and a very sad day.
"We live in a small town, we live in a small place, so when we have an accident it affects many, many people. It affects all of us in quite a personal way."
She said it was tough on the family going through the accident, then being exposed to the media and the public.
An RNZ reporter on the ground in Waipukurau said locals were not keen to talk to media, particularly after the region having been the focus of media attention through Cyclone Gabrielle and its aftermath.