All six crash victims not wearing seatbelts

None of the six young people who died in yesterday's East Coast crash were wearing seatbelts.

Police said last night that foggy weather may also have been a factor in the early-morning crash at Ruatoria. One of the victims was just two-years-old.

Distressed rescue workers found all of the victims crammed in the two-door Honda Integra, with the young boy on the lap of another person.

They said the car had hit the tree at high-speed after missing a corner on a 100km/h stretch of road. There was no sign of braking.

The crash comes just 10 days after one of the worst road accidents in New Zealand history, when nine people were killed in a mini-bus crash in Waikato.

It was reported last night that the four women, aged between 16 and 24, a man, 22, and the toddler were returning to Ruatoria from a birthday celebration in Te Puia Springs.

The victims were the driver, Kui Reedy, 22; her son Hamuera Braybrook-Reedy, 2; Hamuera Harrison-Reedy, 22; and Kui's sister Tania Maraki Reedy, aged about 20. The other women killed, Toni Grace, 17, and Heni Walsh, 16, were believed to be Tania's best friends.

An uncle of some of the victims said he had come across the accident scene on his way to work. "They were young people enjoying themselves and this happened. Just like we have all done, a mishap. It was very disturbing, very traumatic," he said.

Another relative, Sam Reedy, told the Herald on Sunday he had lost three cousins and his nephew. He joined other grieving Reedy family members at the "homestead", a central point for the family and home to the whanau's eldest, "Nanny Wai", who lost grandchildren and children in the crash.

There was shock, crying and "lots of cups of tea", said Mr Reedy.

"I'll never see any of them again. I'm a bit broken, shocked. They were here yesterday and now they are gone," he said, his eyes red from crying.

"They were great fellas. We were all close. She was like my sister, Tania."

Yesterday's accident, which happened just south of Hiruharama at the intersection of State Highway 35, was the worst crash in the East Coast district in more than 30 years.

Distraught family members joined emergency services and said a karakia as three hearses lined up on the road before taking the bodies to Gisborne Hospital's mortuary.

The body of Kui Reedy was taken to Tauranga for a post-mortem examination. The car wreck was taken to Gisborne for forensic examination.

"It hit a tree at high speed by the looks of it," said St John ambulance area manager Shane Clapperton.

Chief Inspector Waata Shepherd said it appeared that there was fog at the time and the vehicle had left the road on a moderate corner and hit the tree.

A church service will be held in Gisborne before the bodies are brought back to the marae at Hiruharama.

Grief over the accident was felt along the entire coast. In Ruatoria, two rugby matches were cancelled. In shops and pubs, people sat shaken.

"I've lived on the coast for all my 48 years and never heard of six lost at once," said one family member.

"It's too terrible to comprehend," said another at Te Puia Springs, where other family members had gathered.

Local MP and Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, who lives in nearby Tolaga Bay, travelled to Ruatoria for the day to support the bereaved families.

He said it was "a horrendous, sad situation. We are all thinking of the families and we're just trying to batten down and make sure things are organised well enough. It'll be a big time for families up here."

HERALD ON SUNDAY - Additional reporting: Kirsty Wynn, Patrick Crewdson and Amanda Cameron