KEY POINTS:
Police have named a family killed in a head-on collision in the Horowhenua late on Tuesday.
Stephen Puketapu, 44, Veronica Skipper, 28, and their seven-year-old son Apirana Kipa died when the car they were travelling in collided with a truck and trailer unit laden with steel on State Highway 1 near the Waitarere Beach Road turnoff, north of Levin, about 11pm.
The cause of the crash was still under investigation and police wanted to speak with the occupants of a small black hatchback that stopped at the scene directly after the crash but then did a U-turn and left, police communications manager Kim Perks said.
"The people in this car may be vital witnesses to the investigation and are asked to contact police," she said.
- NZPA