East Cape man Lance Rangihuna died in a crash last month. Photo / Supplied
Just a month after East Cape man Lance Rangihuna was killed in a crash, three of his family members have also died.
It has left the tight-knit Te Araroa community of about 200 people where "everybody knows each other" in shock at what is being described as an "unimaginable" tragedy.
A woman and two children died yesterday
morning in a crash near Te Araroa.
"We are absolutely devastated," says community leader Ani Pahuru-Huriwai.
"It's a real tragedy, and when word reached us who was involved ... it's just even more of a tragedy."
Emergency services responded to yesterday's crash near Te Araroa.
Pahuru-Huriwai confirmed the victims were from the same whānau as the crash on October 15.
Police were continuing their investigation into the cause of that crash and would not comment further, a spokeswoman said.
Te Araroa fire chief Dick Cook attended both crashes and knew the whānau personally.
"We are in a small rural area, everybody knows everybody. It's really tough, but the hardest part is having to just turn around and go off to your real job."
Pahuru-Huriwai said it had been a tough period for the small community.
"I've been in touch with the wider whānau today, and all are devastated. It is incomprehensible what has happened.
"The family will be sorely missed in our community. We have had a lot of death this year.
"And any death is a tragedy but when it involves our children, close members of a family, it is very hard to find the words to express the pain our community is feeling.
"I don't think in my lifetime we will have had a tangi like this, three on the marae."
Pahuru-Huriwai said they were also concerned for the welfare of their first responders.
"By the very nature of their jobs they are all connected to the people involved in this accident and the previous one.
"I'd like to say for everybody to just take care of each other, and be careful on the road.
"This is not the kind of accident that happens every day, and to have this happen so soon after the last one is quite unimaginable."
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz said there was a sombre mood across the East Coast community following the latest tragedy.
The police Serious Crash Unit from Gisborne is investigating.
A police spokeswoman said there was no update, and they were not yet ready to release the victims' names.
New Zealand's road toll so far this year to November 15 is 274, down from 294 at the same time last year.
However eight people had died by Sunday in the Gisborne district, up from just three at this time last year. Yesterday's three deaths will lift this year's tally to 11.
Three fire trucks have been dispatched to the scene.