Police appeal for witnesses to fatal crash

A road block on Stock Rd after a fatal crash on Thursday. Photo/File

Police are appealing for witnesses after Thursday's fatal crash involving a motorcycle in Hastings.

The Hawke's Bay Serious Crash Unit is investigating the crash that occurred on Thursday morning on Stock Rd, Hastings, and are appealing for information from the public.

The crash involved a red off-road motorcycle with two male riders, and a light truck on Stock Rd near Equestrian Lane.

The motorcycle rider killed after the collision was a 16-year-old male, police have confirmed

Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash about 8.30am on Stock Rd, near the intersection with Irongate West Rd.

A police spokesperson said the motorcycle rider was pronounced dead at the scene and a teenage boy, the pillion passenger on the motorbike, was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital, Hastings. As of yesterday afternoon he was in a stable condition in a ward.

A police officer at the scene said a motorbike was travelling on the wrong side of Stock Rd, on a limestone cycle pathway, heading north toward Flaxmere, when a truck pulled out of a driveway. Investigations into the crash were ongoing and the Serious Crash Unit and Commercial Vehicle Safety Team had been advised.

A police spokesperson said inquiries so far have identified that this motorcycle was seen in the Stock and Maraekakaho Rds area a short time before the crash, being ridden on the grass verge and limestone cycleway track.

Police are seeking anyone who may have seen the motorcycle and rider/pillion passenger, neither of whom were wearing helmets, before the crash.

Police would particularly like to speak with a woman walking her dog on the limestone cycleway track on Stock Rd immediately before the crash.

Anyone who was in the area at the time or has any information is asked to contact police on 06 877 0609 .

Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.