A man is dead after he was trapped in a trench where he was working on a pipe.
Michael Haines, 34, went down into the trench on a rural property in Te Poi, near Matamata in Waikato, when he was buried by a large slip.
Police said a digger operator dug him out so that his head was clear, then ran for help.
Sergeant Graham McGurk said the trapped man was unconscious by the time he was freed. He could not be revived.
The death has been referred to the coroner.
