Earlier, two people were taken to Hawke’s Bay Hospital by ambulance after being injured in a crash in Taradale.
Police, firefighters and St John were called to the corner of King St and Meeanee Rd about 6.25pm on Sunday.
The road was blocked and police asked people to avoid the area, with firefighters required to free a trapped occupant in the vehicle.
A St John spokesperson said they assessed and treated two people, one in a serious condition and the other in a moderate condition, and took both by ambulance to Hawke’s Bay Hospital.
About two hours earlier, a rescue helicopter from Gisborne was called to the scene of a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 5, the Napier-Taupō Rd.
A police spokesman said the vehicle hit a fence near Te Haroto about 4.20pm and an unrestrained passenger in the back seat had been thrown into the front seat of the car as a result of the impact.
They were taken by helicopter to hospital for assessment, he said. The highway was closed for close to half an hour to allow the helicopter to land, and reopened by 6pm.
The tragic crashes over 18 hours on State Highway 2 in and near Dannevirke occurred in clear conditions.
The first was about 4.20pm on Friday, when a vehicle left a State Highway bend near Wahipai Reserve, just north of Dannevirke, and crashed down a small bank into trees and bush. One occupant died, police said.
The second happened about 9.30am on Saturday, when a vehicle and a moped collided a few hundred metres to the south of a High St stretch of SH2 between the Hospital St and the Dannevirke showgrounds, where the town’s annual A&P Show was in progress.
Police said a person who had been riding the moped was injured and airlifted to hospital, but had died.
No further updates were available about the fatal crashes in Tararua on Monday, with police not in a position to release details about either of the deceased.
