A woman was thrown from her car and killed in a collision with a truck on State Highway 30 in the Bay of Plenty this morning, the second road death in the region in just over 12 hours.
Police said initial inquiries suggested the car, which was heading towards Whakatane, crossed the centreline and collided with a truck and trailer unit heading towards Rotorua about 8.30am.
A woman in her 50s from the Whakatane area, the sole occupant of the car, was thrown from the vehicle.
Despite efforts to save her, she died at the scene, police said.
One at the scene said the car was a mangled wreck, with debris strewn across two lanes while the truck had left the road and stopped some 20 metres away from the car.
Firefighters worked for some time attempting to free the woman.
No further details about the woman would be released until her family had been told and formal identification had taken place, police said.
The road was closed as a diesel spill from the crash was cleaned up and the vehicles removed.
A 36-year-old car passenger was killed last night when the vehicle hit a power pole on Reids Rd between Taneatua and Waimana.
The 33-year-old driver suffered minor injuries.
