‘Just devastating’
WHANGANUI: A crash in South Taranaki yesterday that claimed the lives of six people, including a newborn baby, happened on a crisp and sunny winter’s day when road conditions were good.
Emergency services were called to the twocar crash on State Highway 3, near Waverley, northwest of Whanganui, just after 11am yesterday.
Police initially reported five people had been killed, but later confirmed a sixth person — believed to be the newborn — had also died.
Four elderly people in one vehicle, heading northbound towards Hawera, died instantly.
A male driver of the second car containing the newborn baby, heading southbound, died at the scene and a woman and an 8yearold girl from the same vehicle were airlifted to Wellington and Waikato hospitals, respectively. Both were in a critical condition.
Authorities said earlier it appeared one of the vehicles had crossed the centreline on a slight bend in the road.
It is the worst crash on New Zealand roads in 13 years.
The worst fatal crash in New Zealand’s history was recorded in 1963, when 15 people were killed in a bus crash in Northland.
In 1995, eight people died in a house bus crash in Hawke’s Bay. In 2005, nine people died in a collision between a tourist van and a truck in MatamataPiako.
Central District road policing manager Inspector David White had one word for the accident: devastating.
Acknowledging the fine day around him, he said: ‘‘That this happened on a day like today is just unbelievable and just devastating for all those involved.’’
He said emergency crews from St John, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and police at the scene would be offered support.
‘‘Dealing with a crash like this today, with six people dead, is just devastating. There are no other words for it, really.
‘‘A lot of our staff have young families and having to deal with that is not pleasant.
‘‘But our thoughts are with their families first. They’re the ones who have actually lost the baby.’’ — NZME