KEY POINTS:
A seven-year-old boy and his parents are dead after their car collided with a truck and trailer unit, which was laden with steel, in the Horowhenua overnight.
The accident happened at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Waitarere Beach Road, north of Levin, about 11pm, when the southbound car collided with a northbound truck and trailer, police central district communications manager Kim Perks said.
The three, believed to be a 44-year-old man, 28-year-old woman and seven-year-old boy from Levin, died at the scene.
The truck driver, a 43-year-old man, was uninjured but in shock, Ms Perks said.
Police were still investigating the cause of the crash and wanted to speak with the driver of a small, black hatchback that stopped at the scene immediately after the crash but then did a U-turn and left.
The names of the three who died would not be released until next of kin had been informed.
- NZPA
