Two young children orphaned in an apparent head-on crash in Southland were in hospital yesterday and being supported by family.
A 28-year-old man and two women, aged 22 and 28, died in the crash on State Highway 6, the Dipton-Winton highway, near Ladbrook Rd on Sunday night.
Police had not released the names of the three victims last night, but a family member - former New Zealand First MP Ria Bond - confirmed to the Otago Daily Times the couple involved were her nephew, Jesse Shortland, and his wife Samie.
The couple, who were due to celebrate their third wedding anniversary at Labour Weekend, were returning from Mr Shortland's father's funeral.
Their 2-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter survived the crash. Police said the children were being treated at Southland Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries yesterday. They were believed to be still in hospital late last night.
The female driver of the second car also died.
The children, who were in car seats, were pulled from the wreckage by Dipton farmer Suzanne Harvey and a firefighter.
Mrs Harvey said she was at home with her husband and daughter when she heard what sounded like a rifle going off. She saw lights on the road and went to investigate.
Firemen were already on the scene, and she could hear a baby crying in the back seat of one of the cars.
''There were two little boys in the back. Another gentleman was holding a little 2-year-old and got him out of the car.
''I said 'I'll take the baby', so I just picked him up and comforted him as best I could until the ambulance arrived. That's all I could do,'' she said.
Multiple crashes had occurred near their home, including a fatality about a year ago, she said.
''It's a long stretch of road that people can put their foot down and go quite fast.''
Ms Bond told Fairfax she was meant to be in the car with the family after attending her brother's funeral in Hokitika.
''I was meant to be in the car with them. I decided I would cancel my plane tickets and go with them, but the airport was closed so I had to wait.
''Our family are just devastated by the triple tragedy . . . We're pretty broken as a family right now.''
Ms Bond told the ODT the family wanted time to grieve and did not want to comment further.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters yesterday offered his condolences to the former MP.
Southland district road policing manager Senior Sergeant Jon Bissett said police would be working to establish the cause of the crash over the coming days.
As part of the investigation SH6 would be closed for a time today as police revisited the crash scene.
- Additionally reported by NZME
