North Otago community 'devastated' at boy's sudden death

A four-year-old boy has died at a rural property in North Otago.

Emergency services responded to the sudden death at a private property in Papakaio yesterday afternoon.

A police spokesman said the death was not the result of a crash and was not being treated as suspicious.

‘‘Police will not be providing any further details.’’

A St John spokesman confirmed crews attended the incident, but referred all questions to police.

Papakaio School principal Damian Brown said while the boy was not a pupil, he was attending ‘‘transition afternoons’’ to join the school, and had a sibling there.

‘‘His family are very active within our school community and the Papakaio community as a whole,’’ Mr Brown said.

‘‘The entire community is devastated by this and we are doing everything that we can to support the family at this time.’’