Daniel Newman, the Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor, says children were playing with the scrum machine when a young girl died.

The family of a four-year-old girl who died following an incident with a scrum machine at an Auckland rugby ground were there when the accident happened.

Emergency services were called to the Manurewa Rugby Club in south Auckland at 6.35pm on Thursday.

Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Daniel Newman said children had been playing with the scrum machine prior to the incident but the chain of events was still "unknown".

CHARLOTTE CARTER / STUFF The girl died following an incident involving a scrum machine at Manurewa Rugby Club in south Auckland.

Detective James Gemmell said the family was "pretty cut up".

READ MORE: Keven Mealamu's niece dies in park mishap

A group of about 15 people, looking shocked, comforted one another at the scene on Thursday night.

Many of them were dressed in sports gear.

One witness said she heard kids screaming and "saw everyone running to the scrum machine".

"I made my way to her, there was enough helpers around doing CPR and on the phone - I was just calming the dad," the woman said."Her brother and sisters are more affected, I felt so sorry for them."

Google The girl's family was present at the time of the incident.

Several others at the scene said they were there when the incident happened but declined to speak about what they had seen, although one said it was "horrific". Police, some uniformed and others in plain clothes, were still at the scene around 8pm making inquires.

The incident was not being treated as suspicious and the death would be referred to the Coroner.

Police said in a statement they extended their heartfelt condolences to the family.

"We are all devastated at what has occurred. Club members are cooperating with the Police to assist their inquiry," Newman said.

"A little girl has lost her life, it's a tragic situation right before Christmas.

"While the specific details are not yet known, every effort will be made to assist the police to establish what caused this accident. A touch module is run at Mountfort Park as part of a programme to encourage active sport; I understand the park was being used for that purpose at the time the accident took place.

"As the Auckland Councillor for this community and as someone who has spent years supporting the roll-out of sport and recreation at Mountfort Park, the incident is a devastating gut-punch. The immediate need now is to establish the facts and support a grieving family."

In 2009, All Black Keven Mealamu's six-year-old niece Christina Mealamu died after a 165kg scrum machine she was playing on or near at Tamaki College toppled over and crushed her against the ground.

A report released by Auckland Coroner Katharine Greig said the youngster and her three-year-old brother were at the school with relatives who were taking part in an annual friends and family touch tournament.

The day before the tournament, two students had moved the machine so they had more room to toss a ball. It was normally stored flat against the ground.

Once they were done throwing the ball, they played on the wooden and steel pipe structure and didn't notice it moving.

The next day, around 2.30pm, Christina's family heard a big bang and realised the machine had fallen on to the two children.

Neither family or ambulance staff could revive Christina. Her younger brother escaped with moderate injuries and was soon released from hospital.

Keven Mealamu said after her death that his brother Luke's daughter had been "a livewire".

"A real personality. You could feel her personality when you walked into the room."

Greig said the six-year-old's death was an accident and she made "no criticism of the students who moved the scrum machine".