The Australian teenager critically injured in a crash which killed two people near Rotorua is awake and talking to his parents, while his classmates mourn the loss of a fellow student and teacher.
The 16-year-old from North Queensland who was on a school trip when the van he was in collided with a Fonterra milk tanker on State Highway 5 near Reporoa has been joined by his parents who are at his bedside at Waikato Hospital. The boy was yesterday stable in a ward after being moved from the high dependency unit.
The boy's parents did not want to speak to the Herald, but yesterday released a statement saying their son was improving daily with great support from hospital staff and that they looked forward to taking him home soon.
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Teacher Andre Vogel (left) and 16-year-old student Gabriel Runge were killed in a crash near Rotorua on Friday.