A two-car crash in Northland has killed two people and injured at least two others, including a child.
Horrific details have emerged of the aftermath of a two-car crash in Northland which killed two people and injured at least two others, including a child.
The crash closed both lanes of State Highway 1 at Oakleigh, south of Whangarei, for more than five hours, but the highway reopened about 9.15pm.
Whangarei man Kevin Johnston arrived at the scene about a minute after the 3.50pm crash.
One vehicle travelling north had flipped on to its roof and two children aged about 8 and 10 were being comforted by people Johnston believed were relatives travelling in a vehicle behind the one involved in the crash.
"They were pretty traumatised. One of the kids was quite bruised up from her seatbelt. There was an aunty or a nana from another car behind the crash that was comforting the kids."
Johnston went to the other vehicle, which had been travelling south and had gone off the road, and saw a bloodied man crawling out. He checked the passenger, a woman, but she was dead.
"The man was saying, 'How's my wife?'. All I could say was, 'The ambulance is on the way'."
Two people died and at least two others were hurt in the crash at Oakleigh, Northland. Photo / Jonty Hare
He didn't see if anyone else was in the vehicle, but saw a child's car seat in the back.
The crash, which is believed to have occurred near a passing lane, brings the Labour Weekend holiday road toll to three.
A police officer told One News two passengers, one from each vehicle, had died in the crash.
Two others were taken to hospital with moderate to serious injuries. Fire and Emergency personnel were earlier working to free several trapped occupants from the wreckage.
Johnston and the friend travelling with him were tonight still shaken by what they had seen.
"What I saw is something that I wouldn't want anyone else to see," he said.
"We know it's life and it happens, but seeing it is quite different."
One vehicle flipped onto its roof in the crash. Photo / Jonty Hare
The Serious Crash Unit is investigating.
The double fatality brings the Labour Weekend holiday road toll to three.
Motorcyclist Ethan Nathaniel Bishop, 18, died in a crash near Otorohanga last night.
Bishop, of Otorohanga, died at the scene after a collision between the motorbike and a car on Scown Rd about 7.30pm. The female driver of the car suffered minor injuries.
Two people also received moderate to serious injuries when two cars went off a bank on Ramrock Rd at Bucklands Crossing near Palmerston in Otago about 4.50pm today, police said.
A motorcyclist was also hurt in a crash with a car and trailer near Hikurangi, in Northland, at 8.30am.
St John said the person was taken to hospital with moderate injuries.
The Labour Weekend road toll runs from 4pm on Friday to 6am on Tuesday. Five people died over Labour Weekend last year and 76 suffered injuries.
