Man dies as car lands in stream

A man died when this car hit a bridge. Photo / Alan Gibson

One person was killed and five others injured after their car plunged off a bridge in the Bay of Plenty yesterday - one of a number of crashes in a torrid 15 hours on the roads.

The accident happened in an industrial area on Te Puke's Jellicoe St, near Cameron Rd, just after 8am.

Sergeant Lester Polglase, of Tauranga, said the driver appeared to have lost control and crashed through Ohineanganga bridge's steel barriers. The car fell 4m into the stream, landing on its roof.

Passenger Judas Ace Witeri,of Tauranga, died at the scene. The 18-year-old was crushed after being thrown from the car. Five other occupants of the car were taken by ambulance to Tauranga Hospital. Two were seriously injured and three had moderate injuries. A seventh occupant walked away uninjured.

A crowd gathered at the crash scene during the morning, including intoxicated youths who said their "homie" had died in the accident.

One youth, understood to have gang connections, began intimidating a bystander and had to be calmed by police.

"They're all part of the local whanau, and emotions were running very high," Mr Polglase said.

Police suspect that speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

They are seeking witnesses, in particular a woman driver who was following the car until the crash.

Meanwhile, a 6-year-old girl was struck by a car in Henderson yesterday while crossing the road with her grandmother.

The girl suffered head injuries and last night Starship Hospital described her condition as critical but stable. Her grandmother was not injured.

Residents and motorists rushed to the girl's aid as she lay in Great North Rd in the area heading up the hill from Henderson town centre.

Ruarangi McIntyre said he heard a "bang and a crash" about 11am.

"The poor girl was lying on the road. An older lady was sitting on the side of the road and was crying. Some dude was holding the girl, trying to help her."

A silver Mitsubishi, believed to be the vehicle involved, was parked nearby.

Mr McIntyre said the road was always busy.

"Normally, you don't see people crossing here because there is a crossing just down the road."

Two other pedestrians were killed in separate accidents in the South Island yesterday.

A young man struck and killed on a Southland road may have been walking home from a party so he would not have to drink-drive, a local person said.

The man, in his 20s, died after being hit by a Mitsubishi on the Mossburn-Lumsden Highway near Lumsden, 84km north of Invercargill, about 7.25am.

A nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said the man was struck after the car turned on to the road from Dipton-Castlerock Rd.

The man had only just moved to the area and lived close to where he was killed. "It's quite sad really ... he's a young fella, he hasn't been here long. From all accounts he's been in the district two months."

There was talk the man may have been asleep or lying on the road when he was struck.

"Unfortunately he's made a decision and it's the wrong one. I just feel sorry for the people who hit him."

The death came just hours after a man was struck and killed by a truck in South Canterbury.

Emergency services were called to the crash on State Highway 1 near Normanby, 5km south of Timaru, about 2.30am.

Witnesses told police they saw a man walking in the unlit passing lanes about 1.54am.

15 Hours of Horror

8.35pm, Saturday:
Woman killed, four injured after driver travels wrong way down Auckland's Northwestern motorway

2.30am, Sunday:
Pedestrian killed by truck, State Highway 1, South Canterbury

7.25am:
Pedestrian killed by car, Mossburn-Lumsden Highway, Southland

8am:
Man killed, five people injured after car runs off road in Te Puke

11am:
Six-year-old girl seriously hurt after being struck by a car on Great North Rd, West Auckland

- Staff reporters, NZPA