Marae 'feels responsible' for deaths

Members of the South Auckland marae where two men died say they feel responsible for their deaths.

Marsh Terahi Wiri Peihopa, 24, and Waepeke Ruihana Tupaea, 61, died on Friday when a digger slipped down a bank and crashed into a relocatable building they were under, causing it to collapse on to them.

Two men managed to escape and another two were taken to Middlemore Hospital in a serious and moderate condition.

Manurewa Marae trust board chairman Eru Thompson said members of the marae were feeling a lot of guilt. "We feel responsible for what has happened because their lives were taken while they were helping us. It's a bloody tragedy."

The men who died had been working on a building that had been taken to the site the day before.