The tractor involved in Thursday's crash with a truck on State Highway 50 between Ongaonga and Tikokino.
The tractor involved in Thursday's crash with a truck on State Highway 50 between Ongaonga and Tikokino.
State Highway 50 through western Central Hawke’s Bay has been closed for several hours after power lines brought down when a tractor and a truck collided between Ongaonga and Tikokino.
No injuries were reported in the crash, which happened at the highway’s intersection with Wakarara Rd shortly before 10.50am.
Atleast two poles were felled in the crash and lines were draped across the highway, which was expected to be closed for up to six hours.
SH50 traffic was being detoured via State Highway 2, Waipukurau, Waipawa and Tikokino Rd.
Crews from the Ongaonga and Tikokino volunteer fire brigades attended, with the Waipukurau brigade having been called a few minutes earlier to a grass fire.
Electricity supplier Centralines said 15 customers had been affected by an outage, and supply had been partially restored.
The vehicles in the crash were a tractor towing a trailer of silage and a truck and trailer carrying maize, but Tikokino volunteer fire chief Mike Harrison said only ”a bit” of the vehicles’ loads had spilled onto the highway, with the crews’ response mainly being clearing oil and debris from the road and making the road safe.
