KEY POINTS:
Eight Chinese tourists were taken to hospital this afternoon after the bus they were travelling in collided with a loose truck trailer on State Highway 5 near Rotorua.
Inspector Ian Brooker from the police Northern Communications Centre said it appeared the truck's trailer unit rolled and broke loose as it rounded a bend, crashing head-on into the bus.
Mr Brooker said one of the bus passengers was airlifted to hospital in Hamilton with moderate to serious injuries while seven were taken to Rotorua in ambulances, suffering from injuries described as minor to moderate.
He said about 10 other passengers, also Chinese nationals, were not injured. The driver of the truck also escaped injury.
Emergency services closed the highway and fire fighters had to use cutting equipment to free some of the passengers from the bus.
The crash, which happened about 15km northwest of Rotorua about 12.40pm, was being investigated by a police serious crash unit.
Diversions were put in place as the scene was cleared.
The crash happened on a stretch of road with steep drop-offs on either side and was near where the skeletal remains of 28-year-old Jimmy Slater was found last month.
Mr Slater went missing in 1985 when his Ford Cortina crashed into thick bush, but his car and remains were found by a couple of pig hunters.
Sergeant Brett Cooper said today's crash could have been a lot worse. "It was very lucky there were no fatalities," he said.
The driver of the bus, which was heading to Rotorua, was one of those taken to hospital after he was thrown from his cab during the crash.
Diversions are:
North- SH5/Harwoods Rd
South- SH5/Oturoa
- NZPA / NZHERALD STAFF
