School community reeling after tragedy 

A small Auckland school and its community is reeling following the deaths of six students and a teacher on an outdoor education trip in the central North Island.

The seven victims, from Elim Christian College in Auckland, died after they were overwhelmed by a mass of water while canyoning in the Mangatepopo Gorge in the Tongariro Forest.

The victims have been named as 29-year-old teacher Anthony McLean and students Natasha Bray, 16, of Pakuranga, Portia McPhail, 16, of Manurewa, Huan (Tom) Hsu, 16, of Farm Cove, Anthony Mulder, 16, of Howick, Floyd Fernandez, 16, of Howick and Tara Gregory, 16, of Mt Wellington.

                                    
(top  L-R) Tom Hsu, Tara Gregory, Portia McPhail.  (bottom L-R) Natasha Bray, Floyd Fernandes, Anthony Mulder

Newstalk ZB has reported that parents of the students killed drove through the night to get to their children, who were on a school trip to the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre near Turangi.

They will return to Auckland on Wednesday with the bodies of the victims where post mortems will be carried out.

Elim school principal Murray Burton says the impact of the tragedy is going to be huge and far reaching.

"The Christian faith is central to all that we do, it is in times like this that you measure how strong the faith is. It has taken a huge battering but we have an unwavering trust in God. We have questions, we are human but the church and the school community will move forward and i'm sure that we'll see reward at the end of it - we will see light at the end of the tunnel," Burton said in a press conference on Wednesday morning.

Burton also led the school in an emotional special assembly on Wednesday morning.

There have been sombre scenes at the school and ONE News reporter Tini Molyneux, who has been at the school says the flow of people hasn't stopped all morning.

An overnight vigil was held at the school and Burton said Elim pastoral staff and local counselling professionals will be available to students and staff over coming days to help them deal with the tragedy.

Victim support staff were at the Outdoor Pursuits Centre overnight Tuesday counselling students and staff involved in the trip.

PM offers sympathy

The Prime Minister has expressed profound sympathy and shock at the news of the drownings.

Helen Clark called principal Burton to express her sympathies for the school's loss. She says it is devastating and she is offering her sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

"for the pupils at the school, the message is to stay strong... following an unspeakable tragedy."

Clark is promising that government agencies will provide whatever assistance and support they can.

Education Minister Chris Carter is also offering support.

"This has been a shocking event and my thoughts are with the families of these young people who have so sadly lost their lives and with school staff, students and the wider school community," he says.

Carter visited Elim Christian College on Wednesday.

He says he has assured the school, its trustees and parents that the school will receive all the support it can from his ministry.

Carter says a trauma team is in there now and is helping those affected to work through the tragedy.

Parliament's condolences

Parliament stood united on Wednesday afternoon offering its condolences to friends and family of those killed in the disaster.

Prime Minister Helen Clark believes all MPs stand united in expressing their deep sorrow at the loss of the lives of the students and their teacher. She says they had so much to live for and so much potential.

United Future Leader Peter Dunne says the tragedy is poignant and the loss will be immediate and real to all who are parents, teachers or work with young people.

His sentiments are shared by Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons who says there can be nothing so hard to bear as the loss of one's child.

Inquiries begin

More messages of support are continuing to flow into the school, as inquiries begin near Turangi into the cause of the tragedy.
          
The Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC) will conduct its own inquiry into the incident and a full coroner's inquiry has already started which will run parallel to police investigations.

New Zealand's chief coroner Dr Wallace Bain has appointed experienced Palmerston North coroner Tim Scott to the job.

Bain says the inquiry is not about apportioning blame but to establish the facts to reduce the chances of it happening again.

OPC has only had two other fatalities since it was established in 1972 and ONE News reporter in Turangi, Abby Scott, says staff are finding the deaths difficult to deal with.

More messages of support are continuing to flow into the school, as inquiries begin near Turangi into the cause of the tragedy.
          
The Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC) will conduct its own inquiry into the incident and a full coroner's inquiry has already started which will run parallel to police investigations.

New Zealand's chief coroner Dr Wallace Bain has appointed experienced Palmerston North coroner Tim Scott to the job.

Bain says the inquiry is not about apportioning blame but to establish the facts to reduce the chances of it happening again.

OPC has only had two other fatalities since it was established in 1972 and ONE News reporter in Turangi, Abby Scott, says staff are finding the deaths difficult to deal with.

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