Two people, initially assessed as seriously injured, were flown to Dunedin Hospital by helicopter after a Nissan Serena people mover rolled after apparently hitting ice on a bridge near Palmerston at the weekend.
Two other people with moderate injuries and three with more minor injuries were also taken to Dunedin Hospital by road ambulance after the crash, which occurred about 8.20am on Saturday, a St John spokesman said.
State Highway 1 was closed for 90 minutes after the accident on an overbridge north of Palmerston, and traffic was diverted. The Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter landed on the highway nearby to transfer the two patients, believed to be women, to hospital.
Station Officer Craig McCaw, of the Palmerston Volunteer Fire Brigade, said the north bound eight seater vehicle went out of control on the bridge and rolled off it, coming to rest against a roadside barrier on the other side of State Highway 1. Mr McCaw said conditions in Palmerston were also icy and slippery shortly before the accident.
The crash clearly highlighted the value of seatbelts and child restraints, he said.
A female child in a child restraint escaped serious injury, and the wearing of seatbelts had reduced the injuries to other passengers, he said.
It is understood the male driver escaped serious injury.
Two nurses who were travelling past the accident site stopped and helped.
No cutting was required by firefighters to extract the injured people, Mr McCaw said.
A hatch window at the rear of the vehicle and which was broken in the crash, was used to remove some of the people, he said.
Police Sergeant Craig Sew Hoy, of Oamaru, said it was ''very, very lucky'' the injury toll had not been more severe.
