Crash kills granddad

Patrick Wallbank. Photo / Supplied

A quarry manager was killed by a truck the day his first grandchild was born.

Patrick John Wallbank was heading home on Wednesday when his ute became trapped between the cab and trailer of a truck carrying fertiliser.

The incident happened at 5.45pm on SH39, 3km south of Ngaruawahia.

Police said initial indications showed the driver of the truck lost control on a corner.

Wallbank's wife Dorothy said their daughter Joanne and her partner Tony Walther, who live in Sydney, were expecting their first child Anthony on Thursday - but he arrived a day earlier.