Car stuck in orchard bins 10 meters above ground after driver flees police in Hastings

A car ended up lodged in stacking boxes in a Hastings orchard 10 meters above the ground after fleeing police.

Emergency services were called for the single vehicle accident on Kenilworth Rd, Mayfair, around 12.30am Sunday.

Police said a vehicle did not stop before police after they saw it speeding on the wrong side of Karamu Rd, Hastings.

The car fled through Kenilworth, before hitting a gravel patch at the base of the train tracks, becoming “airborne,” according to police.

A police spokeswoman said the car ran over a fence and crashed into the pile of fruit containers.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the car landed about 10 meters off the ground in a pile of orchard boxes.

Police said officers were not pursuing them at the time of the accident.

“Our crews assisted with the removal of the occupant,” the FENZ spokesman said.

The male driver suffered serious injuries and was taken to Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

Local resident Kristy Hall says she was watching television when she was disturbed by a car “running” past her home next to the train track.

“I immediately thought he was going too fast to stop and jumped out of bed,” he said. “Before my feet hit the ground, there was a half-second skid and then the crash.”

Hall said police were quickly on the scene.

“My initial thoughts were filled with fear that they were pulling a body out of that car,” he said.

“I think he didn’t have his headlights on and he’s obviously unfamiliar with the area as he didn’t have any warning that it was a dead end and by reaction time it was too late once he realized “.

Two Hastings fire trucks, as well as the Serious Accident Unit, attended the scene.

Police are investigating the circumstances of the accident.

One person also suffered minor injuries after a three-vehicle accident in Waiohiki, Hastings, on Saturday afternoon.

Emergency services were called for the accident at the Hawke’s Bay Expressway roundabout, near Links Rd, around 1:12 p.m.

Two fire trucks from Napier and one from Hastings attended the scene.