Police look at death of schoolboy

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the boy's death.

The 12-year-old boy who died in hospital after suffering a critical chest wound in Bay of Plenty has been named as Keegan Macpherson-Pirini.

Keegan suffered the injury on Wednesday at Pongakawa, was flown to Tauranga Hospital in a life-threatening condition, and was later transferred to Waikato Hospital where he died on Thursday.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the boy's death.

The death was not suspicious and had been referred to the coroner.

The boy's family have declined to comment on the incident, as has Pongakawa School.

Yesterday, Keegan's family - who run Pirini Motorbike Park in Pongakawa - said the park would be closed for the foreseeable future due to the "tragedy".

Dozens of his school friends have also posted "RIP" messages to Keegan on their Facebook pages.

Katrina Casey, head of sector enablement and support at the Ministry of Education, said ministry staff had been assisting the Pongakawa community.

"Our response team has been at the school since Thursday morning providing support to the staff, students and parents," she said.

"The team aims to help teachers, students, parents and the community return to normal routines as soon as possible."

A spokesman for the coroner said it would be inappropriate to comment on the case while it was still being investigated.