Two people have been seriously injured after a vehicle crashed into a building in Whangamatā on the Coromandel Peninsula.
A police spokesman said emergency services were called to Port Rd, between Lincoln and Ocean roads, about 6.30am.
“Initial indications suggest the vehicle’s two occupants suffered serious injuries, and emergency services have extricated them from the vehicle.”
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said two crews from Whangamatā were called to the scene.
A man who didn’t want to be named said he was arriving at work when he saw all the emergency services.
He said a vehicle had crashed into the side of a building in an alleyway on Port Rd.
A Hato Hone St John spokesman said two rescue helicopters and three ambulances went to the crash.
“Two patients were airlifted to Waikato Hospital, one in a critical condition and another in a serious condition.”
The owner of the business on the top floor of the building struck by the vehicle said the crash had caused structural damage.
“It [the vehicle] didn’t come through the wall but it did crack all the inside of the stairwell coming up from the front.”
She said the road was closed outside her building.
“Police have cordoned off from the roundabout all the way through past the next road on our block in front of the information centre,” she said.
A suspected stolen car was reported to police for doing burnouts at about 2.50am.