Boy, 8, dies with 'skin falling from his body' after jumping into boiling hot thermal spring



A boy of eight has died from horrific burns after he jumped into a hot spring in New Zealand.

He was left with his skin 'falling off his body' after he landed in a geothermal pool in Rotorua, famous for its hot springs, and was taken to hospital.

The pools are fenced off because the water and mud in them can reach boiling point.



Horrific: The eight-year-old boy suffered terrible burns after jumping into a scalding hot spring in Kuirau Park (pictured) in New Zealand

The boy was put on a ventilator in Auckland's Middlemore Hospital after being airlifted there by helicopter.



He later died from his injuries with family at his bedside.



Anna Kare, who was visiting the hot springs in Kuirau Park, said the youngster - who has not been named - was screaming in agony as a teenage boy believed to be his brother ran from the pool carrying him on his back.

At first she thought the two were playing, until she heard the boy's anguished cries.

'He was yelling "my hands, my hands" and then I saw that all the skin was peeled off his hands,' she told TVNZ.

Danger: Most of the springs at the park, near Rotorua, are fenced off to prevent people getting into them as water and mud can reach boiling point

She told the older boy to lay the youngster on the ground while she called an ambulance.

'Then I saw that the whole body was burned,' she said.

'I was panicking, so I asked someone to call an ambulance and then all the people came with water.'

The boy, a Pacific islander, had water poured over him but witnesses said it did little to lessen his pain because his skin was falling off his body.

Miss Kare said: 'I can't stop thinking about this little boy because I just want to know how he is now.'





Garry Page, parks and recreation manager for Rotorua District Council, told New Zealand's One News: 'We still don't know which pool the boy ended up in because I haven't heard from any witnesses. We're still trying to piece it together.'



He said he believed the boy had climbed up on to a fence and either jumped or dived into the pool.



'There's not a lot we can do to stop that if someone is that determined to get over the fence,' he added.

