Road between Gisborne and Wairoa to close tomorrow

The Ritchies bus that left the road between Wairoa and Gisborne on Christmas Eve, leaving two passengers dead. Photo / Supplied

The road between Gisborne and Wairoa will open today, after plans to recover a bus that crashed down a bank, killing two, were postponed.

Tongan citizens Sione Taumalolo, 11, and Talita Moimoi, 33, died when the bus crashed down a 100m bank near Gisborne on Christmas Eve.

Ten others remain in three hospitals in stable conditions.

The bus was carrying 53 people from a brass band from Mailefihi Siuʻilikutapu College in Tonga, which was touring New Zealand as part of a fundraiser. The school brass band from Tonga was travelling to Gisborne's Wesleyan Methodist Church where they were due to perform on Christmas Day.

The bus crashed through a road barrier and down a bank on State Highway 2 about 30km south of Gisborne at 9.30pm on Saturday.

Police yesterday said the road would be closed today while the bus was removed from the crash site. But police and the New Zealand Transport Agency now say the road will be open today.

SH2 between Gisborne & Wairoa is currently FULLY OPEN. There are no plans to close the road for vehicle recovery until later in the week ^LC pic.twitter.com/WLEnXgASQ7

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Central North Island (@WakaKotahiCNI) December 26, 2016

Recovery of the bus is now expected to happen tomorrow, possibly disrupting traffic to the Rhythm and Vines festival.

Police have warned of potential traffic issues, saying there "will be closures on this road at some point over the next two days".

Traffic would be diverted around Tiniroto Rd and Frasertown.

NZTA said there would be extra traffic in the area as people head to the music festival and asked for patience and understanding.

The cause of the bus crash is still unknown, and police will investigate the bus as well as assess the road conditions at the time and any other possible contributing factors.

Police have been speaking to several people who were on the bus, including the driver.

The death of Taumalolo and Moimoi were among the first of the Christmas road toll period, which now sits at nine.

The official holiday road period began at 4pm on December 23 and ends at 6am on January 4.

Last year 12 people died on the roads in the same period from 244 reported injury crashes.