A gagged and bound woman was frothing from the mouth and bleeding after she jumped from the boot of a moving car in South Auckland, a man told the Herald last night.
The woman was in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital after the incident on Huia Rd, near the corner of East Tamaki Rd, Papatoetoe.
Police said the road would be cordoned off overnight.
Huia Rd resident Jay Shah said he was bringing in his rubbish bins when the car sped past about 7pm.
Its boot popped open and the woman - who was bound, gagged and tied around her neck, legs and arms - fell on to the road.
"I was getting the rubbish bins back into the house and I saw someone jump out of the boot of the car," Mr Shah said.
"When I saw the body fall out of the boot, I ran towards the body to make sure everything was all right. I thought she was about to die.
She had a metal rod next to her ... so I think she used the metal rod to jack open the boot and then jump out.
"Her legs were tied and her hands were tied up and she was strangled around the neck with cloth strips."
The woman was Asian and in her late 30s to early 40s, he guessed.
Mr Shah told the Herald he could see bruises on her hands and wrists, where she was tied.
"I untied the tie around her neck so that she could breathe and by that time, a few others came and they helped me get other strips of cloth off her neck as well," he said.
"She couldn't talk. Her nose was bleeding and she was frothing from her mouth."
The car kept driving, he said.
A crowd of concerned neighbours gathered on the corner of East Tamaki Rd and Huia Rd.
Varun Saini, of Papatoetoe, said he'd never seen anything like it in the suburb.
"It's pretty scary, nobody knows what's going on here."
A police spokeswoman said it was believed the woman was thrown from a silver sedan.
No one had been arrested, but police were seeking any information from the public.
About 15 marked and unmarked police cars were in the area last night.
A crowd of concerned neighbours gathered on the corner of East Tamaki and Huia Rds.
Varun Saini, of Papatoetoe, said: "It's pretty scary."
A worker at the Z petrol station at Hunters Corner, who did not wish to be named, said police told him to stay indoors.
He said the officers would not tell him what was happening.
"The cops aren't telling us anything. No one knows what's going on here. All the roads are blocked and there is major [amounts of] cops here - it seems like 100.
"They are not letting us go outside."
Any information can be reported to the Counties-Manukau police on (09) 261 1300 or via tipline Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
