Three people were killed in the crash on Main North Rd, Sefton about 6.50pm on Sunday.
Among the victims were early childhood teacher Donna Young, a mother of four, and her husband Christopher Young.
Family spokeswoman Trixie Duckett told The New Zealand Herald the family were “absolutely devastated”.
“It’s a tragedy... Chris and Donna were like soulmates really,” Duckett said.
“Donna had never been as happy as she’s been in the last few years with Chris, they’d done really well together, they got married and then made the decision to move down south.”
She said the family wanted to give their condolences to the other person who was killed in the crash.
Duckett said the couple had moved from Wairarapa less than three months ago.
“It’s a huge community shock,” she said.
“Donna’s been in the Wairarapa most of her life, she’s really well known. We’re just trying to slowly work through everything. We’ve got huge community support because Donna was so well-known and loved right throughout the Wairarapa.”
Canterbury rural area commander Inspector Peter Cooper said the crashes were “horrendous”.
“There’s five families in Canterbury that have lost loved ones that will be suffering but there’s also the impact it has on the attending staff having to go to these crashes, it certainly impacts them,” Cooper said.
“It’s a real feeling of sadness, people are losing their lives and families are having to deal with such tragedies far too often.”
