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Click here for an updated version of this story, as cops work to identify the victim.

By STEPHANIE SLEPIAN and

JAMES YATES

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Students gathering for class at Markham Intermediate School in Graniteville Thursday morning were rushed inside after a gruesome discovery: a body found hanging from the backstop behind home plate in the playground adjacent to the school.



The body was hanging from a rope that was attached to a chain-link fence, according a witness account.



Students usually use the Markham Playground before the start of classes. The mother of one student said students were immediately ushered inside upon discovery of the body.



An NYPD spokesman said the body was found at 7:20 a.m. Soon after, it was draped in a white sheet and quickly taken down.



The spokesman couldn't say if the body was that of a male or female.



An investigation is under way and the city medical examiner is on the scene.

One mother of a Markham student said students were using their cell phones -- or borrowing cell phones from friends or teachers -- to call their parents.

She said the students were not sent to their classrooms, but were instead split between the auditorium and the gym, where there are no windows.

A small stretch of road between Willow Road East and Willowbrook Road was closed to motorists. The streets surrounding the playground and school were closed to pedestrians.