Two people were seriously injured when their vehicle veered off the road into the Tokatoka Stream in the Far North on Saturday.
The single-vehicle crash happened just before 7am on Backriver Rd, between State Highway 10 and Aputerewa Rd, at Mangōnui.
Hato Hone St John sent two helicopters and an ambulance to the scene. The vehicle’s occupants were each flown in a serious condition to Whangārei Hospital.
Police said inquiries into the crash were ongoing.
Later that morning, an ambulance took another person in serious condition to Bay of Islands Hospital after a crash in Kaikohe at about 10.15am.