Two year old Gisborne boy drowns in river

Photo / File

A two-year-old Gisborne boy has drowned and his three-year-old relative survived after both boys were found face down in the Taraheru River this afternoon.

The child was Sukhraj Singh.

The three-year-old has been flown to Starship Hospital in Auckland where he is in intensive care and is expected to recover.

Gisborne Police sergeant Grant Pickett said the boys got away from family around 1.15pm and it was 15 minutes before they realised they were missing.

The boys were found near the Atkinson Street skate park.

They were found by the father of the three-year-old boy and a couple of neighbours. Initially it was thought the boy was dead but they realised he was unconscious and performed CPR .

Sergeant Pickett said there was nothing suspicious.

"It was just a purely tragic accident."

The two-year-old boy is in Gisborne and there will be a post mortem examination.