Process to ID body washed ashore at Māhia continues; rāhui in place

A rāhui has been put in place that covers the general area where a man's body was located on the beach at the weekend on the Gisborne side of Māhia.

The process continues as police try to ascertain the identity of a body found washed up on Mahanga Beach at Māhia on Saturday afternoon.

Police said a member of the public made the discovery about 1pm. Detectives from Gisborne were called to the scene.

“A post-mortem will be conducted on Tuesday,” police said.

“Due to the circumstances, the identification process may take some time. We can say that we believe the body is that of a man.”

The body was located 46km south of Gisborne and about 3km south of Mahanga.

A rāhui has been put in place on the area where he was found.

The Māhia Māori Committee has asked that there be no collecting of seafood, fishing or swimming in a designated area from Te Auroa to the south side of Paritu until further notice.