The sole survivor of Sunday's highway tragedy which killed his parents and five of his siblings was among the mourners at their tangi this morning.
David Poutawa, 9, was in a wheelchair, his right leg and left arm bandaged, after being discharged from hospital on Wednesday following Sunday's head-on crash on State Highway 1 between Wairakei and Atiamuri.
He and his other surviving brother Legacy, who was at home with his grandmother when the crash happened, watched as their seven family members were farewelled at Timikara Marae, Moteo, in the Hawke's Bay.
Hundreds gathered in and around Timikara, a home for Ngati Hinepare and Ngati Mahu hapu. The caskets of parents David Poutawa and Margaret Luke and their five children Trinity, Chanley, Jahnero, Akacia, and Khyus, who were aged 7-13, lay in a marquee near the wharenui Te Whanau Pani, surrounded by carvings, photographs and paintings of those who had passed before them.