The three people who died in a car crash near Waiuku yesterday were a mother, her daughter and her niece.
The victims can now be named as Frances Latu-Vailea, her daughter Oneahi Vailea and niece Marly Tulua.
They died when their car left Masters Road and crashed into a culvert in wetland on Tuesday afternoon. The deaths have sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community.
"It's pretty devastating actually. It's a small town, most people know someone who knows them if they don't know them themselves," local Jennie Tapp said.
"The fact that it was a woman and two children, it just blows your mind."
Another resident Inga Anja Noom said Masters Road had a bad reputation.
"We all feel sick because usually in a small town like this everyone knows somebody and it's a horrible stretch of road and it's not the first and it probably won't be the last. But yeah, no, it's heartbreaking."
Locals say the narrow, bumpy road will continue causing accidents until speed limits are enforced.
Masters Road falls on the border between Auckland and Waikato and was a concern for both regions' councillors.
Waikato district councillor Peter Thomson said it was often used as a shortcut around the more tightly managed main road between Waiuku and Pukekohe.
"I've heard that it's been used as a bypass to the Waiuku-Pukekohe road, so people can feel that they can travel faster on this road rather than the Pukekohe-Waiuku road, which has got a number of speed cameras on it and is only 80 [kilometres per hour]," he said.
Andy Baker - the councillor for Auckland's Franklin Ward which contained Waiuku - said the road was narrow and bumpy.
"This road is predominantly straight, it runs from both ends, it's basically a straight line but it's very undulating and from what I can see where the crash was, it's in a dip, and there's a lot of trees around."
Noom said it was particularly dangerous in wet weather.
"It's quite narrow, it's windy in the start up to it and then it's just one long stretch with humps in the road and bridges and stuff," she said.
"And with weather like this in wintertime, the creeks are completely full on either side, it's really bad."
"I think it's a little bit premature maybe to say the road's at fault here or there's an issue with the road," he said.
"I know that some locals have been concerned about some things, whether they were contributing to the crash, we won't know until the Serious Crash Unit do their report and eventually it'll run through a coroner's court."
Noom said Masters Road still needed speed cameras like the main Waiuku-Pukekohe road.
"Well if they're going to do it on one side, they'll probably have to do it the other, and everyone will hate me saying that but this is what's happening," she said.
"We had a crash there two weeks ago, they walked away from that one. We had a death there last year and it won't be the last."
She said the crashes would continue until motorists were given a reason to slow down.
Counties Manukau South Area Commander Inspector Jared Pirret earlier said all three victims were found deceased at the scene.
"This incident will impact the tight-knit community in Waiuku, and I know people's thoughts are with the families caught up in this event."
He acknowledged local staff who arrived at what he said was a very confronting scene.
"All emergency services deployed to the scene and worked together to carry out a rescue operation, and we acknowledge their professionalism."
Billy McLean was in his workshop in Masters Rd when he heard an impact that sounded like a car going off the road.
"It's not the first time I've heard it. It's not the first time it's happened here.
"I knew what it was straight away and just ran straight down there to find the car upside down in the ditch, unfortunately."
McLean, a conservation arborist, said the ditch was a deep culvert located in a dip at the bottom of a hill with wetlands on either side.
"I tried my best to get them out and there was absolutely no way that that car was going to open.
"There's not much anyone could have done.
"Being pinned upside down in mud that was so deep. It was like, a little bit of the bottom of the door and the chassis and the wheels exposed and the rest of the whole vehicle in mud.
"There's not a hundred gorillas that could have torn the doors off that car ... I tried. I tried my best but I'm not a hundred gorillas either."
McLean raced back up his driveway to call 111.
He said police were first on the scene within minutes and also tried and failed to get into the SUV. After that the Waiuku Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived.
McLean said the chassis on the SUV was bent and he believes the car hit the culvert at his driveway and became airborne.
The crash happened at 3.30pm between Waiuku and Kidd roads and McLean said it had been raining, but had stopped by the time he heard the impact.
He said it was the second time in as many years there had been a fatal crash on the road, the first one killing his best mate of 40 years and father-of-six Daniel Dalgety in August 2023.
In that crash, McLean said the car Dalgety was a passenger in hit a tree and he was again first on the scene to discover his friend's death.
Since then he had been scared for his own family's safety when using the road.
"Honestly I fear that, every time I pull out of this driveway with my family now."
He said he was considering selling his home and he wanted action from road authorities.
"Do something. Do something ... If they could start focusing those speed cameras on actual known death-trap sites, instead of some random corner or at the bottom of a pretty safe downhill where they're just getting as much revenue as they can.
"Could they please put those cameras where it would save people's lives instead of just collecting their tax.
"That would be a great start. This place here would be a good start."
He described the area where Tuesday's crash happened as being akin to an "old-school BMX jump".
"It's been known for years out here as 'The Rollercoaster Road'."
Neighbour and resident on the road for four decades, Jonathan Kuttner, also referred to Masters Rd as a death-trap and said he had been to a dozen crashes since the road was straightened many years ago.
Kuttner, a former GP, said there was a dangerous dip and bend in the road where speeding cars could fly off and land in a bog.
He said he had raised concerns with various authorities over the years and was also calling for a speed camera on the road.
Kuttner said drivers often used the road to speed and he had been privy to many serious crashes and a number of close calls near his home. It was so dangerous he would only turn left out of his driveway.
Franklin ward councillor Andy Baker said he was aware the "well-used back road" could be dangerous but said it fell within the Waikato boundary.
He said Waiuku, a rural town of about 6000 people, would be heavily impacted by the tragedy.
"Everyone knows everyone. The whole town will just be reeling, no matter who it is. There'll be so many different parts of the community affected by it. It's a terrible thing."
It was unclear if Tuesday's victims were from Waiuku but it was believed they were members of the same family.
In a statement shortly after 6pm yesterday, police said next-of-kin had been notified.
"We acknowledge that this is tragic news for the tight-knit community in Waiuku."
The Serious Crash Unit was investigating.
