Hastings crash: One dead after car hits bridge on State Highway 50 at Tikokino

One person is dead in the Hastings crash.

A Hawke's Bay firefighter says a fatal bridge crash in near Tikokino, in Central Hawke's Bay, is the worst he has ever seen.

The driver of the vehicle, a man, died in the crash on State Highway 50 about 1.20am today.

Tikokino firefighter Mike Harrison said the driver had hit the one-way Manga-o-nuku Bridge while heading north of Tikokino at "excessive speed" and had become badly trapped in the vehicle as a result.

The mangled Holden Commodore was removed from the scene in the early hours of Thursday morning, with the road re-opening at about 7am.

The crash brings the number of road deaths up to 104 this year.

The road was clear by 7am on Thursday morning. Photo / Warren Buckland.

Last night one person was killed in a single-car crash southwest of Palmerston North.

Police were called to the scene on Bainesse Rd, Rangiotu, at 8.10pm.

A horror week on the country's roads started on Monday when nine people were killed in three separate crashes within hours of each other.

In the very early hours of the morning in Auckland, a car left the road and crashed into water near the intersection of Tom Pearce Dr and Puhinui Rd.

The man was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition but died later that day.

About 7.40am five people from one family were all killed when their car slammed into a tree near Kinleith, north of Taupō.

Three sisters Michelle, 15, Aroha, 14, and Kahukura Morgan-Rangikataua, 12, died in the crash.

Their father Peter Senior Rangikataua, 44, his nephew Rangi Rangikataua, 26, were also killed.

Isaac Morgan-Rangikataua, 11, survived the crash and was recovering in hospital.

In Ashburton three people were killed when a ute crashed shortly after 10am.

Chante Harmer, 30, and two of her six children died in the collision that tore her car in half.

Te Awanuiarangi Shayelous-Jay Matenga Tapiata-Harmer, 19-months-old, and Wysdom Amara Francis Tony Jane Tapiata-Harmer, 8-months-old, died with their mother.

'Devastating news' for family of man killed in Te Puke crash

The family of Maketū-born Manepo Tapsell-Wafer, 21, have paid tribute to him after he died instantly when his car and a van collided near Affco on the Te Puke Highway about 5.40pm on Tuesday.

Tapsell-Wafer's grandmother Googie Tapsell wept as she talked about the "devastating news" of her grandson's death.

The news came exactly one week out from the three-year anniversary of the death of her daughter Gloria Tapsell-Wafer.