Cattle were struck and killed by a bus about 7pm on Saturday.
The vehicle, with 27 passengers, crashed into a herd of about five or six cattle on State Highway 1 at the Shag River bridge, north of Palmerston, officer in charge of the Palmerston police Constable Stefan Witehira said.
Some of the cattle were killed in the crash, while two others were put down at the scene because of their injuries.
No-one on the bus was injured.
A car and a four-wheel-drive station wagon were also damaged when they hit the cattle, which had been scattered across the road.
While one vehicle was driveable, the other had to be towed from the scene.
A front panel on the bus was damaged.
The vehicle's passengers were transferred to another bus and continued through to Christchurch.
• Thefts from the State Highway 1 roadworks site at Flag Swamp, just south of Palmerston, had been reported in the past fortnight, Const Witehira said.
A 25-year-old male was arrested at the works site near Flag Swamp at 2am on Tuesday, May 19.
He will be charged with stealing 60 litres of diesel.
