The body of a 12 year-old boy has been recovered from a van which went into the Whanganui River on Saturday night.
A woman and a teenager managed to escape from the van after it skidded off Somme Parade into the river. They were taken to hospital with only minor injuries.
The boy's body was found trapped inside the vehicle shortly after midnight.
A Wanganui man is in shock after becoming involved in the drowning tragedy in the river. Local man Colin Styles drove to the scene and helped police by using his car as an anchor for ropes to get the van out.
He says the emergency services did a superb job, and it was sad they could not save everyone who was in the van. He says they were lucky to get anyone out of the river because the bank where the van crashed is extremely steep.
Styles says rescue workers had to use ropes just to get down the bank.
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