Fence goes up around fatal hot pool to stop further deaths

A 1.2m high fence has been put up around the hotpool at Kuirau Park. Photo / Andrew Warner

The thermal hot pool in which a 10-year-old boy suffered fatal burns has been fenced off but Rotorua officials have all but ruled out building higher fences around other boiling mud pools in the park where the tragedy happened.

Toromon Toromon, of Hamilton, died after falling into a hot pool in Kuirau Park on Boxing Day.

Since the incident, the Rotorua District Council has built a wooden 1.2m fence around the pool. It replaced a 1.8m temporary fence which had gone up around the original 1m stone fence scaled by Toromon.

Rotorua council parks and recreation manager Garry Page said the stone fence had been in place for 30 years. "We've had at least 250,000 people a year through Kuirau Park and we've never had a fatality

He said it was impractical to build new fences throughout the park and that fencing would make it hard for rescuers to save people who fell into pools.

He expected a report on Toromon's death to go before the council next month.

- ROTORUA DAILY POST