Tauranga mother of 8 dies in crash | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

A Tauranga family of eight children is struggling to cope with the death of their mother in a road crash in which they and their father all escaped uninjured.

Mariana Parata, 35, died when the van her family was travelling in plunged down a bank and smashed into a fence pole near Marton early yesterday.

The family was returning home  after spending the weekend in Wellington.

Mrs Parata's two boys and six girls, aged one to 15, and their father, Ngamoana Parata, were now coming to terms with the news Mrs Parata did not survive.

Her sister-in-law, Hera Noble, said Mr Parata - known as Nana - was unable to tell his children.

She and other family members went to Marton police station yesterday at 6am to take them to her Porirua home.

 Read more in today's Bay of Plenty Times