Police appeal for fatal crash witneses

File photo / APN

Police are appealing for witnesses to a crash between a motorbike and light truck yesterday which left two people dead.

Christopher Frederick Vickers, 55, from Pyes Pa, Tauranga, was killed when his motorbike and the truck collided in Oropi Rd, Tauranga, about 9am.

The man driving the truck, 68-year-old Robin Thomas Fong, was also killed.

Today the family of Mr Vickers, a keen motorcyclist, said he "died doing what he loved best".

His death was a "tragic loss to his loving wife Joy and children Daniel, Kate, Sheree, Kyle and Chelsea," they said in his death notice in today's Herald.

Tauranga police Senior Sergeant Rob Glencross said yesterday it was too early to say what happened before the crash or if speed was a factor but the light truck and Mr Vickers' motorcycle were travelling in opposite directions when they crashed.

Witnesses said one man was dead by the time they reached the scene of what they called a "horrible, horrible mess". The other man was dead within five minutes.

- NZPA