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Two people were killed and three injured in a horrific three-car crash on State Highway 1 near Moerewa Monday night. Photo / file
A police investigation is underway into a three-car crash near Moerewa on Monday night that claimed the lives of two northerners.
They were Maudie Dianne Pickering, 64, and Israel Trevon Maxi Hoterene-Rakete, 25. They were both from the Whangārei area.
The accident occurred around 9.45 p.m. on State Highway 1 at the eastern end of the Taumatamakuku settlement, a short distance from the Affco freezing plants.
The two deceased are understood to have been in the same vehicle and are believed to have connections in the Mid-North.
Two other people were slightly injured, according to a spokeswoman for St John Ambulance.
Both were taken to Whangārei Hospital, one by road and the other in the Northland rescue helicopter.
A section of State Highway 1 was closed for at least four hours and traffic was diverted through SH11 and Paihia.
The survivors were helped out of the vehicles by members of the public who were the first to arrive at the scene.
Volunteers from the Kawakawa Fire Brigade had to use cutting equipment to free one of the deceased from the rubble.
An investigator from the Serious Accident Unit of the police examined the scene.
Northland Highway Police Chief Sergeant Major Steve Dickson described the accident as “very tragic.”
It is too early to comment on the cause, he said.
It will likely be a couple of weeks before the police decide on their next steps, such as pressing charges against any of the drivers involved.
The police still had a few people to interview and the Serious Accident Unit was still investigating the vehicles.
The autopsies of the deceased were due yesterday.
The accident brings Northland’s highway toll for the year to date to four.
The first life lost on the region’s roads in 2021 was six-year-old Myka Tuala from Wellington.
Four other people were injured in the two-car crash in Hikurangi on January 1 and a woman was flown to Auckland for treatment.
Myka is believed to have been visiting her family in Northland over the Christmas holidays.
Last Friday [Jan 29] A police search and rescue team found the body of a woman in a car that had crashed into a bank on Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd in the far north.
The woman, believed to be in her 60s, had been missing since Wednesday. Police have not yet released his name.
Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd is the main turnoff from the west coast, while SH1 is closed at Mangamuka Gorge.
