Horror accident: three dead in Te Araroa, Gisborne, after a vehicle hit a tree

Three people died after a terrible accident on state highway 35 in Te Araroa, in the Gisborne district, early this morning.

Police confirmed the deaths shortly after 9 a.m., three hours after the accident occurred at around 5.45 a.m.

A spokeswoman said the accident involved a vehicle that had crashed into a tree.

“Sadly, all the occupants of the vehicle died at the scene,” he said.

“An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.”

Emergency services remain at the scene, north of Gisborne, more than three hours after the incident.

Motorists have been told to avoid the area entirely, as the road is closed.

Fire and Emergency NZ previously said it had dispatched two fire trucks to the accident.

St John confirmed that he also dispatched two ambulance vehicles, but referred all investigations to the police.

The Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency said the road is blocked south of Tokatā Rd.

“Be very careful and expect delays,” NZTA said in its Twitter alert.

The accident occurs one month after the fatal accident on the same stretch

The accident comes almost a month after the day a local died on the same stretch of road.

The victim, in her 50s, was driving a people-carrier type vehicle when she collided with a tree near the Karakatūwhero Bridge on the morning of Thursday, October 15.

Emergency services were called at SH35, Te Araroa, around 7:30 am. The driver died at the scene.

The Serious Accident Unit launched an investigation into the circumstances of the collision, and police said at the time that the weather conditions had been “atrocious, with heavy rain and wind.”

A business owner in the area told the Herald this morning that a volunteer fire department had also been called to the scene.

“They have come out and are still out.”

He acknowledged that it was a sad time for everyone involved and particularly given that this was the second fatal accident in the same area in a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile, emergency services remained busy last night after a single vehicle accident in the center of the North Island left three seriously injured and another seriously injured.

The accident occurred on Harbottle Rd, near the intersection of State Highway 26, Motumaoho, east of Hamilton, a police spokesman said.

Police were called to the scene at 6:20 pm. A rescue helicopter also responded to the crash site.

Four ambulances attended along with a manager, a St John spokesman said.

Earlier yesterday, a West Auckland resident described the “gory and bloody” sound of a stolen car fleeing police and crashing into his front lawn.

Police attempted to arrest the driver of a stolen car in the West Auckland suburb of Henderson on Sunday morning after receiving a report that he was driving dangerously on Tango Place.

He fled police and crashed into a power pole before driving through a residential lawn on Pomaria Rd.