School bus and car collide: One dead, 31 injured, two critical

A person has died, and two are critically injured as 31 people were hurt in a crash between a school bus and a car in Rotorua.

The person who died was a passenger in the car, while its driver and a second person were critically injured.

Fire and Emergency said the people were trapped in the car, and they had to use rescue gear to get them out of the vehicle.

One of the critically injured people was flown to Waikato Hospital, while the other was taken to Rotorua hospital by ambulance.

The bus involved in Thursday night's crash was carrying tamariki from a Gisborne school.

Kaiti School in Gisborne says its students were on the bus, and three were taken to hospital, but have been discharged.

They were staying in Rotorua while competing at Te Mana Kuratahi, a kapa haka competition in Tauranga.

"Following yesterday's absolutely impressive stand at Te Mana Kuratahi, Puhi Kaiti Kapa were involved in a bus vs car collision in Rotorua on their way to their accomodation from dinner last night," tumuaki Billie-Jean Potaka Ayton wrote on Facebook.

"Three students were admitted to hospital and have now been discharged. All students and kaiako are safe. Our hearts and aroha are with our team and their whanau."

St John says it sent five ambulances and two helicopters to the scene on Te Ngae Road in semi-rural Ōwhata about 9.15pm on Thursday.

The bus was carrying passengers who suffered minor injuries, police said.

A person living near the scene told RNZ he'd never heard anything like it.

He described the crash as "nasty".

The car and bus had been removed from the scene by Friday morning.

All that remained was a smattering of broken glass and sawdust leftover from soaking up engine oil.

Rotorua Māori ward councillor Trevor Maxwell said it was a busy road with a lot of roadworks between Ōwhata and the airport.

However, the NZ Transport Agency said there were no roadworks or traffic management at the time of the crash.

"As with all serious crashes on the state highway network, we will carry out a thorough investigation including a review of the road and the roadside at the crash location," a spokesperson said.

There have been a number of fatal crashes on the Te Ngae Road since 2013.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are under way.