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Twin girls aged 15 were killed in one of a slew of horrifying drink-drive cases that have police calling for lower legal alcohol limits.
Shaan Tahere and her sister Jasmine were back-seat passengers in a car carrying five people which crashed on Auckland's north-western motorway near Western Springs late on Friday night.
All in the Ford Falcon were in their early teens, with the exception of the car owner and driver, 23-year-old Bella Wong Tung.
Police and a Wong Tung family member told the Herald on Sunday that alcohol was involved in the crash. The family member said Bella asked police if, before she was arrested, she could "kiss my babies goodbye".
The accident came during a police drink-drive blitz that saw 28,000 motorists stopped and breath-tested and 200 drivers charged. Among them:
* A 45-year-old female driver, stopped near Huntly, who tested at close to three times the legal limit. In the vehicle with her were her children, aged 5 and 9, and her four month old grandchild;
* A 36-year-old Dunedin man who was apprehended after consuming around a dozen bottles of beer and then driving with his two-year-old son in the front of his car;
* A Canterbury driver who was stopped at a checkpoint outside Christchurch Central Police station and blew a reading of 1253, more than three times the legal limit;
* A 52-year-old woman in Whangarei, where concerned members of the public took her car keys. She was so intoxicated she had to be carried from her car and was unable to undertake a breath test.
The Herald on Sunday visited Bella Wong Tung's family at her Mangere home last night, where an unidentified man said she was too upset to talk to anyone. "She is hurting, we are all hurting too much to talk at the moment."
An aunt who did not want to be named said Bella and her two brothers Joshua and Isaiah had picked up the twin girls from their mother's home, where there had been drinking.
The group were on their way back to Mangere where family members would have broken news of a death in the family, she said. The family member had been told a Mitsubishi car was tailgating Bella.
As Bella slowed down and pulled over, the accident happened.
The aunty was told the crash site was a tangle of bodies, including one of the injured pushing and choking one of the twins in a bid to get free.
The five were taken to Auckland Hospital and treated for injuries ranging from fractured arms to life threatening conditions. One of the twin girls passed away on arrival. The other passed away late yesterday afternoon.
An officer involved in the case said police were seeking witnesses to the driving of the vehicle prior to the accident. Officers were unaware of any other vehicle being involved.
Inspector Carey Griffiths, operations manager for road policing at police national headquarters said the incidents reflected "the steady rise of both alcohol-related prosecutions and alcohol-related deaths and fatalities".
According to police statistics, prosecutions for drink-driving have been increasing by around 1000 per year. Ministry of Transport surveys show drink-drive rates among late night drivers rose from 0.7 per cent in 2004 to 0.9 per cent in 2006.
Griffiths said: "Research tells us to reduce the number of crashes you lower the blood alcohol level. It's been proven internationally."
Anna Reid, national manager of Students Against Driving Drunk, said 109 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes last year. "It destroys not just families but whole communities. For a country of 4 million, it's a massive problem."
