Three people have died in a car submerged in a pond in the central North Island, police say.
And a fourth person - an elderly man - was en route to hospital via rescue helicopter this afternoon.
Emergency services were called to a report of a vehicle underwater in a farm pond in the central North Island.
![A police car at the Raetihi farm where three people lost their lives when a vehicle plunged into a pond. Photo / Lewis Gardner](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/S3ASIMDK3XMXFLNZBWPOJNTNJM.jpg?auth=78087865d31b8558602fa1d7d365f0b6fc21673b49b32a82367edbbed14a28eb&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Police said they were alerted to the incident in Raetihi, in the Ruapehū district, just after 11am.