One person was killed and eight others badly injured in a
serious two-vehicle smash on the Desert Road this afternoon,
bringing the Easter road toll to five.
Emergency services were called to the accident on State
Highway 1, in the central North Island's Rangipo Desert
region, about 5.35pm today.
A St John Ambulance spokesman said six people were believed
to be seriously injured, while two others suffered moderate
injuries.
Fire crews were working to rescue people still trapped in the
vehicles, while six ambulances and two rescue helicopters
have been sent to the scene.
Meanwhile, police have named the man who was killed when his
car crashed on a Far North road last night.
Wiki Antony Brass, 50, died after his car rolled off the road
and into a drain on Ahipara Rd, about 14km southeast of
Kaitaia, at about 8.40pm.
He was the sole occupant.
The accident came less than two hours after one person died
and five others were badly injured when a car and a 4WD
collided in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
The impact of the crash, which happened at the intersection
of SH34 and Park Rd in Putauaki, about 27km southwest of
Whakatane, sent one car into a power pole, cutting off power
in the area.
Emergency services arrived at the scene to find the car
alight, and one of its occupants dead. Two other people
travelling in the car were also seriously injured, including
a 27-year-old man who was flown to Tauranga Hospital in a
critical condition.
In the second vehicle, an 11-month-old baby suffered serious
head injuries and was taken to Auckland's Starship hospital,
while a 22-year-old man with severe burns was flown to
Waikato Hospital. He was in a serious condition in the
hospital's intensive care unit this morning.
A woman travelling in the car was taken to hospital by
ambulance.
The accidents followed two fatal crashes in the Waikato on
Good Friday.
James Victor Robinson, 18, of Morrinsville, died after his
car went off the road and into a nearby paddock before
crashing into a bank near Wardville Rd in Waharoa, 53km east
of Hamilton.
Nearly two hours later, a collision between a truck and car
on Gordonton Rd in Taupiri, 26km northwest of Hamilton, left
a 60-year-old woman dead and several others with critical
injuries.
Last year over the Easter holiday period, seven people died
and 191 were injured on New Zealand roads.
The official Easter holiday period began at 4pm Thursday and
runs until 6am Tuesday.
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