Police are appealing for witnesses after the child was struck by a train at a level crossing on Hewletts Rd in Mount Maunganui around 2.55pm yesterday.
The death has been referred to the Coroner.
Mount Maunganui Intermediate School principal Melissa Nelson said it was one of their pupils who was killed.
She told the Bay of Plenty Times the pupil was a “delightful, happy, engaged and valuable” member of the school’s family.
“They had a life ahead of them, and that’s tragically been cut short.”
She said the details around the age and gender of the child were for the family to make public.
“As a school, we’re devastated to lose one of our own in such awful circumstances,” she said.
“At this stage, our main role is to wrap around our students and staff as they’re processing the loss of a friend and student.”
She said there were “lots of grieving … very sad people” as the Mount was a close-knit community.
She said no other pupils were “witness to the accident”.
Nelson said the school was “well supported” by the Ministry of Education trauma and support team now at the school, and the school was following the guidance to support students and staff.
In a post on the school’s Facebook page, Nelson said the student was killed while biking home from school.
“The loss of a child is an unimaginable tragedy and our hearts and love go out to the family affected by this loss.
“In the coming days, we will wrap around the whanau and walk with them as they grieve.”
KiwiRail chief operations officer Siva Sivapakkiam said the incident occurred at the Hewletts Rd level crossing.
“These types of events are deeply traumatic for those involved, and our thoughts are with all those affected,” Sivapakkiam said.
“In line with our standard practice, our locomotive engineer has been offered counselling and support. KiwiRail will also be supporting him with some time away from work.”
