Two confirmed dead after car plunges into river

UPDATE - Two young women have drowned and another is missing after a car plunged into the Waikato River.

The Subaru Legacy crashed over the Cobham Bridge in Hamilton about 6am today.

Hamilton police say two local men in their 20s survived the crash.

The first one was found walking along Cobham Drive, by a courier driver who alerted police to the accident.

The second man - the driver of the vehicle - is currently speaking with police.

Police divers have found the bodies of two women in the car. But it is understood there were three women in the vehicle at the time of the crash, so one is still missing.

Police are currently working out the best way to retrieve the car.

They earlier said a male passenger managed to escape and told them four others were still trapped inside. He was taken to Waikato Hospital for treatment.

Police, fire and ambulance staff were sent to the scene and the Waikato River rescue boat was deployed.

Senior Sergeant Ian Harris said this morning that police were still establishing the identities of the four.

The police serious crash unit was investigating the incident, but Mr Harris said it was too early to say what caused the car to hit the side of the bridge.

Mr Harris described the distance from the bridge to the river as "a reasonable drop" and said the water was "pretty deep and fast flowing".

The incident forced the closure of State Highway 1 between Normandy and Grey.

* In a separate incident, a 48-year-old woman has been killed in a two-car crash near Piopio in the Waitomo District.

The crash happened just after 1pm today, 13 kilometres south of the township on State Highway 3.

A young child in the car with the woman who died, has been airlifted to Waikato Hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB