A good samaritan has paid for his good turn with his life.
A businessman going to a woman's aid in downtown Auckland was
fatally stabbed by an armed assailant.
Despite desperate attempts by the public and emergency services to
save him, he died at the scene.
Auckland police have now launched a homicide inquiry.
The middle-aged man was stabbed in the upper chest area and was
covered in blood by the time he was able to ask nearby construction
workers for help, according to witnesses.
A doctor who was passing by was able to assist and dozens of bystanders watched as paramedics performed CPR on the man after he stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.
He had earlier just left the BNZ Towers in Mills Lane in the Auckland CBD when he went to help a woman who had asked him to call Police after she'd been approached and assaulted by an armed man near the lifts in the building where she worked.
Police believe they know who fatally stabbed the man and are working through next of kin issues to firm up on his identity.
The woman he tried to assist has been helping the police investigation as much as she can.
Detective Senior Sergeant Gerry Whitley says the scene in and around the BNZ Towers has been cordoned off and will remain so overnight while it is examined as thoroughly as possible before people start making their way to work in the morning.
"We have to balance the imperative need to gather as much information about this terrible fatal attack as possible with the needs of business operators and their staff to carry out their usual duties with the least amount of disruption," he said.
"Our staff will be working through the night to ensure that we achieve both these ends as best we can."
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