Two people are dead and several others have been injured following a spate of crashes on North Island roads.
Vehicle crashes in Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato and Hawke's Bay kept emergency services busy throughout Tuesday.
A driver had to be cut free after his truck carrying volatile gas cylinders including oxygen, acetylene and propane collided with another truck on State Highway 27 between Matamata and Tirau just after 6am.
The driver, a 46-year-old Palmerston North man, is in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital. The other driver was not hurt.
Shortly after midday, four people were taken to hospital - one in a critical condition - after a crash in Cooks Beach in Coromandel.
Two Hamilton women aged 19 were admitted to Waikato Hospital. One is in a stable condition, the other was still being assessed late on Tuesday night. Two other people have been discharged.
The two fatal accidents happened in the afternoon.
A cyclist was killed after being hit by a truck in Parnell Rise, central Auckland, about 2.15pm. Ambulance staff said the man in his 30s was in a critical condition when they arrived and died a short time later.
Further south, one person was killed and another was injured following a car crash in Havelock North.
