A young girl has died after losing control of her quad bike and hitting a fence at a memorial event in Masterton on the weekend.
The accident happened about 2pm yesterday, at the Jayden Kilmister trail bike memorial event on Te Ore Ore Bideford Rd in Masterton.
Senior Sergeant Jymahl Glassey said the 6-year-old girl was riding her quad bike along a driveway at yesterday's event when tragedy struck.
"She has then lost control of her bike and hit a fence."
Mr Glassey said the girl received injuries as a result of hitting the fence and died at the scene.
He could not confirm whether the girl was crushed by her quad bike after hitting the fence.
"There were St John paramedics on scene as part of the event, and Wellington Free Ambulance attended along with Westpac Rescue Helicopter."
Mr Glassey said paramedics did all they could to resuscitate the girl.
"She was a young girl... just doing what kids do, so that sort of accident that results in her passing away is definitely tragic."
Mr Glassey said the accident was being investigated and had been referred to the coroner.
The memorial event was held to commemorate the life of Jayden Kilmister, a 15-year-old who died in 2009, after a freak gust of wind blew him off the back of ute along with furniture he was moving.
After being blown from the ute he hit his head on the road and was unable to be revived.
Jayden loved trail biking and his parents established the annual trail bike ride on their farm in 2010.
All funds raised at the event went to the Jayden Kilmister Memorial Trust, to aid local families in times of similar need, and organisations including the Westpac rescue helicopter and SPCA.
A Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee report released last year, found that 33 children under the age of 15 died as a result of quad bike, motorcycle, or motorised agricultural vehicle accidents between 2002 and 2012.
Twenty-two of the deaths involved children operating the vehicles themselves.
Twelve of the deaths involved quad bikes, and a loss of control preceded the crashes in the majority of those cases, the report found.
- Nikki Papatsoumas of NZME. News Service