Two people are dead and three others fighting for their lives after a horrific road crash involving four vehicles north of Whangarei.
A total of six people have been taken to Whangarei Hospital.
The accident happened on State Highway One in Hukerenui, about 32km north-west of Whangarei, about 2.20pm this afternoon.
Two cars and two four-wheel drives travelling in opposite directions smashed into each other, with the trail of destruction scattered over the main road.
A Toyota Altezza in which two people, understood to be passengers, died came to a rest by a fence near a paddock while a Toyota four-wheel drive veered just off the road facing the other car.