Deadly midnight inferno

When a car smashed into a truck, the impact was so great the truck and its 30-tonne cargo was shunted more than a metre down a Levin street.

All three people inside the car – understood to be two brothers and a male friend – were killed in the crash at 12.10am yesterday, which quickly turned into an inferno.

Witnesses described hearing screams as people tried to help those inside the car. But they were driven back by the heat of the fire, which was so intense it melted a streetlight over the truck.

By yesterday afternoon the gutted truck was being cleared from Cambridge St, but those who knew the three friends inside were struggling to comprehend what had happened.

Two friends visited the scene in a bid to understand and said the victims included two brothers.

Although it was cordoned off, flowers were placed on the scene with a note expressing ‘‘huge amounts of love’’ to the family and friends of those killed.

Tributes started to appear for the trio on Facebook, where they were all remembered as great friends taken too soon.

‘‘You were such a kind soul and I could always count on you for a laugh,’’ a friend wrote for one of the victims.

‘‘I always have you guys. Youse are my brothers... when I’m sad youse always have my back,’’ another wrote.

Police said it would take ‘‘some time’’ to formally identify the victims. No-one was in the parked truck.

Sandi Cassidy was one of the first on the scene. She said she heard screaming, but it was impossible to get anyone out of the car.

Another witness, who was also among the first on the scene, said the car appeared to have come out of Macarthur St and crashed into the parked truck. ‘‘I ran out of our house and saw the car under the truck.’’

She called emergency services before trying to help with another man.

‘‘We just started trying to open the doors.’’

Eventually the flames became too fierce and the truck started to catch fire, forcing them to move away, she said.

‘‘You were such a kind soul and I could always count on you for a laugh.’’ A tribute to one of the crash victims.

Brooke Watson was part of a large group of onlookers watching the clean-up yesterday morning. She had seen the car being removed and said it was hardly recognisable.

‘‘Someone said it was red, but it was certainly black when I saw it. It had been gutted. It was munched.’’

Spencer Logistics owner Brian Spencer said the truck driver was safely in bed when the crash happened.

The driver lived nearby and had parked his truck in his usual weekend spot on Cambridge St, fully loaded with paper reels ready for delivery on yesterday morning.

‘‘The crash must have been a hell of a impact.

‘‘It moved the truck a metre and half sideways and it was loaded with 30 tonnes of paper.’’

Austin Cooper heard a huge bang and a few minutes later heard the sound of sirens.

When he looked outside he saw a raging fire that was so intense it melted the road. ‘‘It was just a huge fireball. You can see the street light above the truck has melted.’’

Fire and Emergency Service spokesman Mike Wanoa said firefighters responded to the call at 12.10am.

Initially, two Levin fire crews were sent to rescue people from the crash, he said.

But once they arrived and found the vehicle on fire, the crews called for back-up.

He was unsure how long it took to extinguish the fire.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

The coroner had been notified of the deaths, police said.