A young woman is dead after she crashed on a "bad corner" during a police pursuit.
The crash, which happened just after police attempted to stop the vehicle, left the young woman driver dead and three others with minor injuries.
Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said shortly before the crash police had seen the vehicle speeding through an intersection erratically.
A number plate sits in the creek near Tarewa Rd. Photo/Ben Fraser
A police patrol tried to stop the vehicle, but about 1km from where they first tried to stop the vehicle the driver failed to negotiate a moderate bend, the care became airborne and travelled over the bank of a stream and collided with the berm on the far side of the stream.
When asked by the Rotorua Daily Post yesterday, police said they were unable to provide further details including how fast the car was going and what the weather conditions were like.
In a statement they said they had launched a serious crash investigation.
CRASH: The scene of the crash where a young woman died after her car crashed into a stream on Tarewa Rd. PHOTO/BEN FRASER
"While this investigation is ongoing, police are not in a position to comment on any detail of the crash."
Meanwhile, Tarewa Rd residents have described waking to sound of emergency services.
One resident said she heard noises and dogs barking and saw the emergency services bring the car up.
"When they brought the car up the top it was so mangled, it was such a mess."
She said it looked like the car had lost control on the corner.
"It's a bad corner, there has been so many cars go over it, it's a very deceptive corner. "It was a big impact going into the ditch, she must have been moving fast."
The woman said there had been people looking at the site yesterday.
Another Tarewa Rd resident said he heard the crash.
"I heard it, it was quite loud and I saw the police car in the road and then I saw the car. I yelled at my wife to call 111.
"The police were there fast and they did really well. I couldn't speak highly enough of their efforts."
He said there had been a few incidents on the same stretch of road before.
"It's not a nice thing, it's an extremely sad event. We have noticed a few people walking by today."
Mr Horne said the crash was a tragedy for the families involved.
"This is a tragedy for the families involved and our thoughts are with them at this time," Mr Horne said.
"Serious crashes are also heart-breaking for police staff and those from other emergency services.
"This incident highlights the risk of driving at speed and the tragic consequences that can result when a driver refuses to stop and instead chooses to evade the police."
He said the matter had been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Authority and Rotorua police were also conducting their own investigation, both of which were standard procedure.
