Four die in crashes over weekend

Four people died over the weekend in car accidents.

Two people were killed after a car carrying five adults ran off the road on State Highway 38 in northern Hawkes Bay between Wairoa and Tuai. The car hit a bridge and landed in a stream.

Michael Keith Weir, 52, of Napier died when his car left the road near Te Aute, 28km southwest of Hastings, and ploughed into a stand of trees.

And a Lower Hutt man, 32-year-old Lepaio Simi, died in a suspected hit and run accident in Lower Hutt early Saturday morning.

Mr Simi was found unconscious lying on the road by a motorist on Cambridge Terrace in the suburb of Waiwhetu.

Police are appealing to the public for any information about the incident.