The driver involved in a crash that killed 8-year-old Katikati girl Jasnoor Kaur has died.
Tauranga police confirmed to the Bay of Plenty Times the 55-year-old Mount Maunganui man died at Tauranga Hospital early this morning.
The man had been in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit after being taken there in a serious condition following the head-on smash on Thursday.
The crash happened about 4.30pm on State Highway 29, near the summit on the Tauranga side of the Kaimais.
The exact cause of the crash was still being investigated but police said a westbound vehicle, driven by the man, crossed the centreline and collided with the vehicle travelling with Jasnoor Kaur inside.
Friends of the Kaur family said Jasnoor was a 'beautiful, bubbly little girl'.
Katikati Subway restaurant manager Pooja Verma said the whole Kaur family were regular customers, and she had taken a particular shine to Jasnoor.
"They are a very nice family and I am very, very sad about Jasnoor. She was so cute, and such a bubbly, friendly little girl. I used to tell her mother that every time they came in," she said.
With their lives shattered in the event, the family can now rebuild after the settlement.