One dead after motorbike crash near Waimarama

Police have set up cordons along Waimarama Rd on Thursday afternoon. Photo / Paul Taylor

One person has died after a Thursday-afternoon motorbike crash between Hastings and Waimarama.

The death was confirmed by police about 6.45pm, almost five hours after the single motorbike crash was reported. The road had also reopened.

The deceased was flown to Hawke’s Bay Hospital in Hastings by a Lowe Corporation Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter Service crew, using a Greenlea Taupo Rescue Service helicopter while the Hastings machine is out of service for routine servicing.

Police said they received reports about 1.50pm of a single motorbike crash, between the intersection with Ocean Beach Rd and Maraetotara Rd.

A helicopter from Taupo with its Hawke's Bay Helicopter Rescue Service crew near the scene of Thursday afternoon's motorcycle crash, less than 10km from Waimarama. Photo / Paul Taylor

Police had said about 5pm the section of the road was still closed and expected it to be closed for “some time”.

While it had been said earlier that there was no detour available, a route on Okaihau and Maraetotara roads was in use, some motorists reported, but police were advising motorists to avoid the area and delay travel if possible.

It was 35-40km southeast of Hastings and less than 10km from beach settlement Waimarama, and the police Serious Crash Unit was investigating.

The crash site is in the Hastings District, where four road fatalities had been previously been recorded this year, with the nationwide toll for 2023 at 227, seven less than the 234 at the comparable stage of last year.

A large number of motorbikes were in the Waimarama area on Thursday for a tangi.