Two women and a man are dead and others seriously injured after a car crash near Whangarei.
Whangarei traffic chief Wayne Ewers at the scene of the crash. Photo: RNZ / Lois Williams
Police were called to the collision, on State Highway 1 at Oakleigh just south of Whangarei at 11.15am.
The crash involved a light truck and three cars.
One other man is in a serious condition and another woman sustained moderate injuries, and they were taken to Whangarei Hospital.
Chief Inspector Wayne Ewers said a car heading north crossed the centre line just south of Oakleigh and hit an oncoming light truck.
The truck lost its steering as a result of the impact, veered over the road and hit another car in the northbound lane.
The driver of the first car, and a man and woman in the second were killed; and two people were injured, one seriously.
Chief Inspector Ewers said all police could do was repeat their message for people to pay attention and drive to conditions.
"That's all we ask," he said. "This piece of road, State Highway 1 south of Whangarei is notorious for serious accidents; it's 100km an hour so we just ask that people take extreme care on it. "
Mr Ewers said the driver of another car, following just behind the first one, managed to escape injury by driving off the road into the bush.
State Highway 1, south of Whangarei. Photo: RNZ / Lois Williams
The crash closed the highway south of Whangarei for five hours, and police set up a detour through back roads.
But logging trucks and others were made to wait in long lines for the highway to re-open after one took the detour and drove over a bank.
Henare, a log-truck driver near the head of the queue, said he'd been waiting since just after 11am.
"But hey, I'm still breathing," he said. "Not like those poor people. I'm not complaining."
The Land Transport Agency announced plans last year to upgrade the winding stretch from Whangarei to Oakleigh, and either build a new four-lane highway or a dual carriageway.
