Woman who died in Kawerau sawmill incident named

Police can now name the woman who died in a workplace incident at a sawmill on Manukorihi Drive, Kawerau last Friday.

She was 39-year-old Melanie Leanne King of Kawerau.

The death has been referred to the Coroner and Worksafe will be investigating.

Emergency services were alerted to reports of a person trapped under a pile of timber at a commercial address on Manukorihi Drive at 11am last Friday.

Just hours later, Sequal Sawmill executive director David Turner gave an emotional statement outside the site.

"It was someone who's very close to us all so it's very painful," he said.

"Obviously, we're co-operating with the necessary authorities around the investigation but at the moment we're really focused on the team and the family.