'I've yet to cry all my tears'

Scene of the crash that cost the lives of a woman and two of her children. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

A devastated father mourning the deaths of two children and his former partner after a horror car crash said last night he's yet to cry all his tears.

Five members of one family were in a white Mitsubishi Lancer that collided with a stock truck in Hastings early on Thursday afternoon.

Twenty-two-month-old Ezekiel Te Nahu died in Starship hospital early yesterday after his life-support machine was turned off.

His brother Elijah Te Nahu, 5, and mother Bobbi-Jo Tua, 26, who was seven months pregnant, were also killed.

Bobbi-Jo's ex and the children's father, Mason Te Nahu, said police told him they died instantly at the scene.

The couple's 6-year-old daughter, Shaziah Te Nahu, and Bobbi-Jo's 20-year-old nephew, Jesse, survived.

The driver of the truck, who braked heavily in a bid to avoid the car, was uninjured.

Shaziah is being treated at Hawke's Bay hospital and was well enough to leave for a couple of hours yesterday to see relatives. She was last night in a stable condition while Jesse remained critical.

Mason said she doesn't remember the crash and took the news "pretty well. But then she is only 6. I don't think she fully understands."

The couple, who split six months after Ezekiel's birth, have a fourth child, Zion, 8, who cried for an hour after being told about the crash.

Mason said young Ezekiel - known as Ezy - was a "bossy little guy".

"You would bend over backwards for him otherwise he'd start howling - then you'd have to give him whatever he wanted. He was a bundle of joy too. He was a tough little guy. He didn't take crap from anyone. He was the boss, he ruled the roost."

Mason said Elijah "was always full of life, always smiling. He loved his wrestling, playfighting. There was never a dull moment with him.

"I will always remember Elijah's big blue eyes. He had these shockingly blue eyes, he was so handsome and cute."

Mason said Elijah turned 5 in December. "He was all excited about going to school. So were all his teachers because his sisters and brothers were at the same school."

Mason had been single for a long time and stayed "best of mates" with his former partner.

"Even after we broke up and all the stuff that life throws at you we still loved each other and I will miss her."

Bobbi-Jo's aunt Mel Hain described her niece as a "bright" and "strong" woman whose greatest love was her close family.

"Not just her own children - she loved the whole extended family," she told Hawke's Bay Today newspaper.

Mason, a long-serving rugby and league player, was told of the crash as he headed home from work as a roading contractor about 4pm. He said he was "devastated".

"I work out in the wop wops on the roadworks so no one could get in touch with us. One message I got was that the kids weren't well - I just broke down."

Mason, who plans to quit work to care for his children fulltime, said the bodies were at the Kahuranaki Marae in Te Hauke over the weekend.

"So at least we have been able to see them and mourn for them. We'll have three days of that, hopefully we will cry all our tears. I don't think I have taken it all in. I haven't cried all my tears yet."

Ezekiel will be buried with his mother while Elijah will be buried in a separate coffin in the same grave.

The funeral will be held at the marae tomorrow at 11am.