Bodies strewn on road 'looked like animals'

A team of rugby players who arrived on the scene moments after a horror car smash that left five children badly hurt thought at first that the bodies strewn across the highway were animals.

An 11-year-old girl was fighting for her life in Auckland's Starship Hospital last night while four other children under nine - including an 11-month old baby - were in a stable condition in hospital. A 34-year-old woman who was driving the car was also being treated for moderate injuries.

Witnesses said their Mitsubishi Pajero crashed into a traffic barrier on a stretch of SH2 at Pukehina, 37km northwest of Whakatane, and flipped twice, before ploughing through a fence and rolling to a stop in a field.

The Pajero's wheels were still spinning when Tauranga's Te Puna rugby team arrived in one of the first vehicles on the scene, manager Tony Rolleston said.

"It looked like animals or dogs on the road but it turned out to be three kids. Two were in the middle of the road and a baby, not even a year old, was off to left hand side," Rolleston said.

The team, travelling to Whakatane for an afternoon match, found a young girl who had been flung at least 5m over the barrier at the side of the road, another child lying in the paddock and the mother who was still at the wheel of the Pajero.

Team members went to the baby who was crying and screaming, stranded on the road.

Rolleston said: "The baby was moving around, wriggling and flapping its arms about. One of the guys grabbed the baby because it was so distressed and tried to calm it. It seemed to be moving OK. It didn't seem to be in too much harm. The other two were fairly still though."

The players offered the children their hooded jackets to keep them warm and moved the baby and children from the road to the paddock. Others worked to stop traffic and call emergency services.

The partner of the injured woman said two of her children were among those injured.

Local resident Heneri Ngatai who has lived near the crash site for several years, said the road was notorious for crashes.

The crash occurred on a bend that has a 65km/h speed warning and double yellow lines.