Death and chaos on roads

by Michele McPherson | 27th October 2009

A 24-year-old man is dead after being thrown from a mini-van near Waihi yesterday, with a further seven people taken to Tauranga Hospital.

The crash happened on a corner of State Highway 2, north of the Athenree Gorge, about 5pm in a horror weekend on roads which left six people dead across the country, two more than last year.

The chaos continued in Tauranga this morning when a car and school bus collided.

The crash happened at 8.12am at Barkes Corner. The bus had 32 people on board, none of whom were injured. A passenger in the van was taken to Tauranga Hospital by a member of the public.

Traffic was backed up along State Highway 29 to Tauriko.

The group involved in yesterday's Waihi crash are believed to be mostly tourists from Saudi Arabia, Spain and France who were travelling in a rented mini-van and in New Zealand on one-year working visas.

Waihi Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Moe Stevens said it appeared the mini-van, which was heading towards Tauranga, had gone out of control  and rolled a number of times before coming to rest in a paddock.

Two men were thrown from the vehicle, one ending up in the paddock and another in the roadside drain. It is believed they were not wearing seat belts.

Mr Stevens said it appeared a Saudi man who was thrown from the van hit his head on a fence post. He died about 15 or 20 minutes after firefighters arrived at the scene. It is believed he was the left side rear passenger.

The second man, a Spanish tourist, received head injuries, a suspected fractured pelvis and femurs, and a possible chest injury. He was flown to Tauranga Hospital by the TrustPower TECT rescue helicopter.

 This morning he was stable in the Intensive Care Unit.

Also in the van were two French women, aged 27 and 21, a French man aged 21 and a 19-year-old woman from Auckland. All were taken to Tauranga Hospital by St John ambulance.

Two other patients were taken to Tauranga Hospital by Waihi St John.

This morning, three had been discharged from Tauranga Hospital and three were stable.

Mr Stevens said State Highway 2 was blocked for about three hours with traffic directed along a short diversion along Old Tauranga Rd and Woodland Rd, resulting in minimal disruption.

The Waikato Police Serious Crash Unit was investigating.

Meanwhile, a 59-year-old Katikati man was suffering shoulder, rib and hip pain following a crash at the intersection of State Highway 2 and Wharawhara Rd just before 2pm yesterday.

A Whangamata man and his two children, aged three and seven, travelling in the other car, were taken to Tauranga Hospital with minor injuries.

Traffic was reduced to one lane for nearly an hour with reports from a firefighter that the traffic was banked up "for miles".

Yesterday, a Wellington woman was killed by a bus she was trying to catch in Porirua.

Canterbury man Matthew Edward Carpinter, 31, died when his motorcycle crashed into a bridge on State Highway 6 at Coal Creek near Greymouth on Sunday.

Two women were killed in a head on smash on SH1 at Five Mile Bay near Taupo on Saturday.

On Sunday Richmond teen Tod Woodman, 16, died when his 4WD rolled into a river in Nelson's Maitai Valley.

 with Ellen Irvine