A man lay dead in a Wellington flat for more than a week before neighbours alerted authorities to the strong smell.
A police spokesman said they went to a Housing New Zealand apartment block on Dixon St in central Wellington about 3.30pm yesterday when they found the body of a 78-year-old man in a flat on the third floor.
Neighbours called police complaining of a strong smell coming from the flat.
The spokesman said the man was last seen a couple of weeks ago, but he was unsure how long his body had laid undiscovered.
It was unknown how the man died but it did not appear to be suspicious.