Two dead in road crashes

Two men have died in separate accidents in Waikato and Northland this morning.

One man died following a collision between a truck and a car near Kawakawa in Northland.

The accident was on State Highway 1, south of the town, said Inspector Kerry Watson of the Northern police communications centre.

Two people were injured. Police appealed ot the dirver of a vehicle towing a jet ski, who stopped at the scene, to get in touch.


In the other accident, a male passenger was killed after the car he was travelling in rolled off a north Waikato country road.

The man, aged in his late teens or early 20s, was one of six occupants in the car.

It rolled off Bush Road near Ngatea, 23km southwest of Thames, about 6am today, Senior Constable Blair Mattock of Ngatea police said.

Two of the other passengers sustained serious injuries. One was airlifted to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital by the Westpac rescue helicopter. The driver and the other two occupants sustained minor injuries.

Mr Mattock said the road was a well-used one as it linked State Highways 2 and 25. He said it was "reasonably" straight.

He said alcohol and speed might have been contributing factors towards the crash but inquiries had yet to confirm this. No other vehicles were involved.

- NZPA