One person has died in a crash that shut part of State Highway 2 north of Gisborne yesterday.
Emergency services were called to the single-vehicle crash on Matawai Rd (SH2) in Otoko just after 4.45pm.
Police said today one person died a short time after being taken to hospital and two others were injured.
Inquiries into the crash were ongoing, police said.
Volunteer firefighters used cutting equipment to remove the occupants of a double cab utility which had rolled 30 metres down a bank on the northern side of Ōtoko Hill.
Firefighters “had to stabilise the vehicle which was stuck on top of a large rock so it didn’t fall any further before they could start any extrication of patients”.
A volunteer firefighter who was at the scene said firefighters used the “jaws of life” equipment on both sides of the vehicle.
A St John spokesperson said that initially one person was transported by helicopter to Gisborne Hospital in a critical condition, one person was transported by ambulance in a critical condition and one person was transported in a moderate condition to Gisborne Hospital.
Yesterday, a police spokeswoman said three people in the car were taken by helicopter to Gisborne Hospital with serious to critical injuries.
The road was closed for several hours and reopened around 11pm on Wednesday.
Traffic exiting SH16 via Rosebank and Pātiki road off-ramps is being turned around.