A Whangarei woman has died after police say she was trapped in a creek by a mower rolling on top of her.
Police, the Fire Service and ambulance were called to a property on Three Mile Bush Rd, Kamo, about 2.45pm yesterday after reports of a lawnmower accident.
Sergeant Mark Andrews, of Whangarei police, said the 69-year-old woman was dead when emergency services arrived at the large private property. Fire crews from Kamo and Whangarei, backed by the Fire Service support unit attended.
Mr Andrews said while the exact circumstances of the accident were still being investigated, the woman was on a large ride-on lawnmower which appeared to have gone about 10m down a fairly steep bank, before going a further 5m into a creek.
He said it appeared the mower then landed on its side on top of the woman, pinning her underneath. At edition time yesterday police were still gathering evidence. It was unclear at that stage how long she had been trapped before the alarm was raised, but the woman was mowing her own lawn and was found by her husband.