Woman killed crossing road on way to funeral

Photo / Martin Sykes

An elderly woman going to a funeral was knocked down and killed by a car while crossing a South Auckland road on Friday.

The Tongan woman, 81, was struck on Ormiston Rd, East Tamaki, about 7.40pm as her granddaughter was locking their car.

The funeral service was for Kisepi Ma'afu, 56, who died of cancer.

Manurewa Methodist Church minister Epeli Taungateau said he thought the woman was a relative of Ma'afu.

The woman died 30 minutes after she was taken to hospital.

Her son-in-law, who was attending the service inside the church at the time of the event, followed the ambulance, as did many others attending the service.

"People were coming to mourn and at the same time there was an accident that happened, so it is a very painful mood for the people," Taungateau said. "We didn't find out she had died until the head of the church came back and told us."

Until the accident it was just a normal service but, "When the news was broken, it was really painful for the people," he said.

People stayed around to mourn at the ceremony on Friday until late in the early morning," he said.

The Tongan community will provide support to the family.

The driver of the car has been interviewed by police and the Auckland Serious Crash Unit is investigating.