Pupil hurt in crash with car
12-year-old has critical injuries after crash with car
A12-year-old boy remained in hospital with critical injuries last night after a crash involving a car and a pedestrian near Tauranga Intermediate School.
Emergency services were alerted to the serious crash on Fraser St about 3.10pm, police said.
Fraser St between 18th Ave and Brook St was closed after the crash, reopening in the evening.
A person in a critical condition has been taken to Tauranga Hospital by ambulance, a St John spokeswoman said.
A Bay of Plenty District Health Board spokesman said the patient was a 12-year-old male and was undergoing assessment and treatment at the hospital. Police later said one person remained in hospital with critical injuries.
The crash happened outside Tauranga Intermediate School.
The school’s principal, Cameron Mitchell, confirmed a pupil at the school had been injured.
Mitchell did not see the crash, but he understood the child had been clipped by a car and trailer while walking across the road.
He said the road was now closed and he was working to keep his students safe.
A photographer at the scene in the afternoon said there were diversions in place but there was traffic chaos in the area around the closed section of road and beyond.
Meanwhile, a body and a car were recovered from Lake Rotoma¯ last night.
Police received a report of a vehicle submerged in the lake about 9.45am. It was not clear how long the car had been there.
The police national dive squad arrived in the afternoon. A police spokeswoman said the body was recovered about 5.40 and the car just under an hour later. “Inquiries are ongoing.”
A Rotorua Daily Post photographer at the scene at O¯ tangiwai Point around noon saw multiple emergency service staff as well as a tow truck.
O¯ tangiwai Point is the same spot two people died after their car plunged into Lake Rotoma¯ in July.
Locals have raised concerns about speed limits in the area.
A man who works down the road from O¯ tangiwai Point, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was “a pretty tough corner, pretty sharp”.
“There is a metal barrier but there’s a car park where you can still go through.”
He said some vehicles travelled “quite fast” down the stretch of road in question.
It was scary to think another had gone off the road.
Another Rotoma¯ resident, who did not wish to be named, was sad about the crash and agreed some people sped down the stretch of road.