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Seventeen people were injured and a bus driver was trapped after the bus he was driving collided with a truck on deadly State Highway 2 in the Waikato.
The crash took place near the Red Fox Tavern at Maramarua about 4pm today. Nineteen people were on the bus, the majority of them elderly, police said.
Three people were flown to Auckland Hospital with with "very serious injuries". Thirteen had moderate injuries and one had minor injuries.
The bus driver had to be cut from the vehicle.
St John said it had sent two helicopters, six ambulances and five support vehicles to the incident.
"Helicopters are taking patients to Auckland Public Hospital while ambulances are transporting others by road to Middlemore and Thames Hospitals," spokesman Mark Deoki said.
Traffic diversions are in place along State Highway 2 for south-bound traffic at Kopuku Rd, and for north-bound traffic at Okaeria Rd.
Waikato Serious Crash Unit investigators are on the scene.
The crash occurred just two hours after a media conference was held by Hamilton police, addressing a horrific spate of deaths on Waikato roads.
Earlier today, a 14-year-old boy was killed in Huntly as he stepped off a school bus and was hit by a truck.
Five people have died in four crashes in the district since Friday.
