KEY POINTS:
Detectives yesterday descended on a rural property east of Taupo following the death of a 16-month-old boy.
Conflicting reports have emerged about how the toddler died, but police were told the death involved a digger.
The boy was taken to an ambulance station in Reporoa, 12km from the property, after emergency services received frantic 111 calls about 11.30am.
A St John spokesman said the boy was in cardiac arrest and died in an ambulance on the way to Rotorua Hospital.
Detectives from Rotorua and Taupo were last night at the Te Toke Rd property and, although there was no cordon, would not allow media to approach, saying it was a crime scene.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper confirmed police were investigating the death after initially being told the boy had fallen from the digger.
"Initial reports suggested the digger had been in operation at the time of the incident," he said.
"However, it now appears that this may not have been the case, and the vehicle may have in fact been parked.
"Inquiries are continuing and various witnesses are being spoken to, including the parents of the deceased child, both of whom are extremely upset."
A small orange digger was visible near a shack at the isolated property. A larger dwelling surrounded by several old cars lay to the left.
Inspector Gavin Macdonald of police northern communications said two 111 calls were received from the property, one of which said the boy had been run over by the digger and the other saying he had been crushed.
Sergeant David Robertson of north comms said: "There are conflicting stories about what happened."
A postmortem is to be carried out on the boy's body in Auckland this morning to establish the cause of death.
St John communications team manager Murray Bannister said the toddler was taken to the ambulance station by his parents.
"They bundled the child into a car," he said.
Mr Bannister said a 111 call St John had received was difficult to understand.
"The person, as you would expect, was panicking so we had trouble ascertaining where they were."
A crew of two volunteer officers met the boy and his parents at the ambulance station and transferred him to an ambulance. An advanced life support unit was also sent from Rotorua.
It was unknown if the toddler survived long enough to be shifted to the life-support unit as it met the volunteer crew on the way to Rotorua, 40km away.
"I understand the child was in cardiac arrest and they were working on the child," Mr Bannister said.
Mr Loper said the child had been confirmed dead on arrival at Rotorua Hospital.
