Crash near Hastings: Two teens in critical condition after York Rd smash

Police and emergency services attending the crash on York Rd, Hastings, on Wednesday afternoon that has left two young women in a critical condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital. Photo / NZME

Two young women remain in a critical condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital after a crash on York Rd, Hastings.

The teenagers were among five people taken to hospital after the two-vehicle crash about 5.40pm on Wednesday on a stretch of road that is becoming a blackspot.

Two others also taken to hospital after the crash between York Rd's intersections with the Hawke's Bay Expressway and Maraekakaho Rd were reported to have been treated and discharged, while a man in his 20s was on Friday morning in a stable condition.

The crash was at least the third resulting in significant injury on the stretch of road in the last 10 weeks.

The speed limit had been lowered from 100km/h to 80km/h after a Hastings District Council speed limits bylaw review in 2018, and a man had been killed in a crash on the same stretch a year earlier.

Meanwhile, a woman injured in a State Highway 5 crash between Te Haroto and Tarawera about 12.45pm on Thursday has been discharged from Hawke's Bay Hospital.

Two ambulances were sent to the early-afternoon crash, which blocked the Napier-Taupō highway for some time.