Five coolstore workers killed in a horror crash between a car and truck near Katikati are being remembered as "fine young men".
The victims have been named as Halani Fine, Koli Vaipulu, Sitiveni Vaipulu, Sione Teulaka, and Samuela Taukatelata. They died when their car collided with a truck on State Highway 2 last night.
Church elder Simione Vakasiuola, leader of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, said the loss of the men had left the Tongan community in shock. Word of the tragedy spread quickly through the tightly knit Tongan community in New Zealand and across the Pacific.
"There's a lot of support and prayers for those who have passed away," Mr Vakasiuola said.
One of the dead men, Halani Fine, had lived with him in Katikati while working at the coolstore. The others in the car had only been in New Zealand for four months.
The victims, including a father and son, were all workers at Aongatete Coolstores and had just finished their shift when the car they were in pulled out of a side road. They were hit by a southbound logging truck. The truck driver was shaken but uninjured.
Coolstore managing director Allan Dawson said staff were "reeling" from the crash. His wife Nell, who is operations manager, said: "They were part of our family. They were all fine young men."
The highway was eventually reopened to traffic early this morning.
Mr Dawson told the New Zealand Herald that the workers had just finished work at 8pm and were turning right out of Dawson Rd when the collision happened. He said other staff who were also finishing work saw the crash.
Mrs Dawson said the father was 44. His son and the three other men were in their 20s. One of the workers was a team leader.
Mr Dawson said the coolstores would be closed today and workers would be offered counselling. "We are all just sort of reeling from the whole thing. The support services are gathering around pretty well now and we're getting in touch with the relatives and doing what we can."
Support for the men's families would include helping with the repatriation of the Tonga-based men's bodies and financial support, he said.
Mr Vakasiuola said two of the victims were part of his congregation and he had broken the news to the Auckland-based mother of one of the men. The congregation would pray for the men's families and offer whatever help they could. The church was planning a service for Friday.
The Western Bay District Council Mayor, Ross Paterson, said he could not recall so many lives being taken in a single crash on the road between Tauranga and Katikati.
He said the crash happened on a straight section of SH2. Dawson Rd was a short road that led to a packhouse.
Acting head of Western Bay road policing Sergeant Wayne Hunter said the driver of the truck-and-trailer unit had made a delivery in Katikati and was heading home. She and her passenger were uninjured, but had been taken away "pretty quickly" from the scene, and would later be formally interviewed by police, he said.
Western Bay police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said: "It's been a very traumatic time for everyone involved and "it was far too early into the investigation to comment further on the circumstances of the crash."
