A police serious crash unit investigation is underway.
Also on Saturday 10 people were taken to hospital after two vehicles collided on Omahu Rd in the Hastings suburb of Twyford.
Ten people were involved in a crash when a car and a van collided head-on near the Omahu Rd Caltex service station, several hundred metres west of Omahu Rd's intersection with Wilson Rd.
Hastings Fire Service senior station officer Bryan Dunphy said that on arrival all those involved in the crash were out of the vehicles except for a woman who needed assistance to exit the van.
"Until we got more vehicles there we assisted the medics with first aid and made sure the scene was safe," he said.
Omahu Rd was closed to all traffic while the scene was cleared and sand placed on spilled oil.
A police investigation into the crash continues.
A Hawke's Bay Hospital spokesperson said all taken to hospital were discharged apart from a woman in her 30s who was in a stable condition.
The seven children in the crash were four girls and three boys.
A man in his 40s was also discharged.
Police said they still had several witnesses to interview and asked any witnesses who had not spoken to police to contact them.
Two hours later another head-on collision occurred in Hastings on Railway Rd in Longlands.
Police said one person received minor injuries and a 66-year-old man is due to appear in Hastings District Court today charged with careless driving causing injury.
No deaths occurred in the Eastern District during the Christmas holiday period.
