The Abbey Cave tragedy has brought back memories for an Auckland school principal who lost six of his own students in a flash flooding incident.
A body was found late on Tuesday evening in the search for a missing student after reports the group of 17 from the Whangārei Boys High School got into trouble earlier in the day in Abbey Caves in Whangārei during severe weather.
The family confirmed the identity of the boy who was Karnin Ahorangi Petera.
In a Facebook post on Thursday morning, the family said it was with "deep sadness" that our "beautiful boy" Karnin died during a school trip at Abbey Caves in Whangārei.
Murray Burton was principal at Elim College when six students died in a 2008 flash flood in the Mangatepopo River in the central North Island.
The students were taking part in a canyoning activity at the Hillary Outdoor Education Centre.
Talking to The Project on Wednesday, Burton said memories from 2008 came back to him but urges anyone involved in the Abbey Cave tragedy to take it a day at a time.
"I know exactly what the principal would be going through," Burton told The Project.
"I know firsthand, having worked with seven families here at Elim, exactly what the family would be going through and my thoughts are always first and foremost with that family. That's where our hearts and our hopes lie with them."
The students on the caving trip will be going through a huge sense of loss and Burton urges them to take their time in the grieving process
"Once again, we must recognise that their sense of loss is huge at the moment. Not that they lost one of their friends, but that they survived. How did that happen? How did this all come about and I think they just need good whānau around them," he said.
"There will be days when they go forward and there'll be days when they go back. Routine is important, but just a listening ear, some activities to do, good food and company and I'm sure they will come through this, bit by bit, slowly."
The death has caused uproar in the community, with the parent of one year 12 student who attends Whangārei Boys' High School saying those responsible for organising the caving trip need to be "held to account".
"They had the weather warnings and the weather was horrible before they entered the cave," the email they sent to AM said. "All of us locals know you do not go near these caves in any rain. Anyone at the school including the principal will need to answer some serious questions."
Burton "totally gets" the anger and frustration people are feeling in the community and says it's part of the healing process.
"Fifteen years ago, we didn't have social media so much in our faces, so now we have this deluge of opinions and thoughts and people do need to get things off their chests," Burton told The Project.
"I can just say that anger and outrage has to be processed well so that we can get some healing and some outcomes further down the track."
Questions have now turned to whether school trips, like the one Karnin was on, should be stopped altogether but Burton urges kids to continue doing outdoor camps and explore New Zealand.
"I made this point in the years after our tragedy that Aotearoa, New Zealand is a beautiful place. It's an outdoorsy place," he said.
"The inclination would be let's shut the doors, let's turn off the lights and let's not go to these places. I'm just saying let's keep exploring the outdoors. Kids need to go on camps."
