Victims of Atiamuri horror crash named

Michael Harley Soo, aged 23 , died in a crash at Atiamuri on Saturday. Photo / Facebook

The three people killed in a weekend horror smash at Atiamuri have been named by police today.

Michael Harley Soo, 23, David James Hills, 22, and Jessie Nicholson, 23, were killed when their car they were travelling on State Highway 1 collided with a truck. All three were from the Manawatu.

Michael Harley Soo, aged 23 , died in a crash at Atiamuri on Saturday. Photo / Facebook

A serious crash investigation is ongoing.

The crash was one of five lethal crashes over the weekend which brought this year's road toll to at least 303, compared with 271 at the same time last year.

The weekend's toll was higher even than for the three days at Labour Weekend .

In the Bay of Plenty, one person died and four others were injured - one seriously - in a three-car crash on State Highway 2 near Katikati about 3.30pm.

Two people were trapped and it took firefighters an hour to free the driver from the wreckage. The other two cars were approximately 20 metres further down the road.

Earlier in the day, about 9.30am, one person died and two were seriously hurt north of Kaitaia when a four-wheel-drive ute went 150m off the road and crashed into a paddock.

Just hours before that, a member of the public found the body of a 19-year-old Briton who had been flung from his car near Mangakino.

In the latest fatal accident, about 5.30pm yesterday near Carterton, a man was flung from a car and died despite paramedics' best efforts.

The three people in the car died at the scene. Photo / John Van De Ven

The Atiamuri crash was described by rescuers as "horrific".

The collision - on a stretch of road with a temporary 30km/h limit after two other crashes there in the slippery conditions - left the red Toyota unrecognisable and crushed beneath the front of the truck.

Fire Service executive Hamish Smith said the woman was still alive when crews arrived, but died as they tried to free her from the wreck.

"It would be one of the more horrific and serious accidents that the staff would have dealt with in the last 12 months."