The Vice Chancellor of Canterbury University says "no question will be left unanswered" during an independent investigation into the death of a student whose body was found in a campus residence on Monday.
Vice Chancellor Cheryl de la Rey fronted media for the first time today over the incident.
She said it has been an, "extremely difficult time for all of us here at the university, but most especially for the family of the student who was found deceased earlier this week."
A man’s body went undiscovered for weeks at Sonoda Hall. (Source: Other)
It's unclear how and when the student died but media reports say the body lay unnoticed at the residence in Ilam for nearly two months.
Yesterday, Canterbury University announced an independent investigation into the death at the Sonoda Village will be undertaken.
The investigation will leave "no question unanswered" and the university will make sure this "never happens again" Ms de la Rey said.
"That it's happened, we are extremely sad, we find it devastating and my heart is with the family."
This afternoon, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said he was in regular contact with Canterbury University and the manager of Sonoda Village.
“It is a very difficult situation.”
He said it was important the university and hostel “front up” to media, and he had made that clear to the university.
“They are very concerned, they are pulling out all of the stops to identify what happened.
"I do have confidence in the chancellor and the vice chancellor of Canterbury University in the way they are handling the situation. Clearly there are some questions to be answered around the firm that was running this hostel and whether they had the right safeguards in place.”
Mr Hipkins anticipated the Coroner’s report could take two months to complete.
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