Miracle escape for teens after plunge

Witnesses say they were stunned when four teenagers climbed from their wrecked car after it plunged down 150m off Te Mata Peak near Hastings.

"There should be four crosses on that car, but they just got out and walked away," bread truck driver Phillip Otter said.

The crash occurred when the car driven by a 17-year-old sped away from the carpark near the top of the peak which is a well-known beauty spot, raced past another car on the first left-hand downhill bend, skidded back across the road and disappeared over the edge.

The car flew through the air, rolled several times, bounced off a bluff before coming to rest at the bottom.

Mr Otter told Hawkes' Bay Today he expected to to find four dead bodies.

So he was could not believe his eyes when three of the occupants, believed to be high school students, climbed out of the car. and walked to the road unaided.

Suffering cuts, bruises and shock, they were taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital, in Hastings, by the St John Ambulance Service, while the fourth teenager, who had a badly broken leg was treated beside the wreckage before being taken to hospital.

Sergeant Clint Adamson, of Hastings Police road policing branch, said the Daewoo car was registered to the parents of one of the boys who were out of town when informed of the crash.

The driver held a restricted licence and should not have been driving with passengers.

- NZPA