An 11-year-old boy has died after being pulled from the water at a Northland river mouth.
The St John ambulance service was called to the Waipu River mouth about 2.20pm today.
It said the child was spotted in difficulty in the water but despite medical attention after being brought ashore was pronounced dead at the beach.
Family members were with him at the time.
Intensive care paramedic, Scott Mears, was at the scene, and said they were initially told two people needed help.
"We found it was just one patient who had pulled from the surf, CPR was in progress when we arrived, we ran a resuscitation over 20 minutes and were unsuccessful. The patient was an 11-year-old male."
Mr Mears said the death had been referred to the police.
Police said he and a seven-year-old boy became caught in a rip, but the younger boy was unhurt.
