Woman dead, child critical in crash

File photo / NZ Herald

A woman is dead and a child in a critical condition after a car collided with a truck in Cambridge this morning.

Emergency service were called to the intersection of Cambridge and Kaipaki Roads, near Leamington, where an empty tar tanker had hit a car around 8.20am.

Waikato Road Policing Manager Inspector Leo Tooman said a child - thought to be a 10-year-old - who was a passenger in the woman's car has suffered serious to critical injuries in the crash.

The child was taken to Waikato Hospital by ambulance.

"A crash investigation has just commenced at the scene, initial indications are a car being driven by a woman, [we] believe aged in her 40s, has travelled from Kaipaki Rd on to Cambridge Rd, directly into the path of a north-east bound tar tanker," Mr Tooman said.

"It's too early to say if the woman stopped at the controlled intersection or not but the truck certainly had right of way."

Mr Tooman described the crash as a "terrible tragedy".

"There are still way too many questions to be answered before we know just what has occurred but one thing is certain, we are not affording the road the respect it deserves and people in general are making too many mistakes with terrible consequences."

- Herald Online staff