A woman has told how a blood-soaked teenager screamed for help at her front door, as two of his friends lay dead in a car wreck nearby.
The Waikato double fatality yesterday - in which police believe speed and alcohol were factors - helped to push the Labour Weekend road toll to seven last night and left officers despairing.
Police had hoped for a fatality-free holiday weekend.
Jeanette Preston-Fowlie, of Ratowaro Rd, about 6km west of Huntly, woke to the sound of a loud noise just after 1am yesterday.
She went back to sleep, but was woken again about 30 minutes later by the sound of banging on the side of her house.
"This young guy ended up here. He was yelling and screaming, 'Everyone's dead, call 911, call 911'.
"I could see he had blood on his face - there was a cut - but I could see all this blood down his side. I knew it was someone else's.
"He collapsed and started fitting. We had him inside and down on the floor."
Mrs Preston-Fowlie said the teenager's state was horrifying. "I've only had three hours of sleep. You can't sleep after that."
The youth - who she thought was about 17 or 18 - is believed to have been the driver of a vehicle that failed to take a slight bend and hit a power pole.
Two passengers - a male and a female - were killed.
Emergency services were called to the scene about 1.45am. But investigators believe the crash happened earlier, as the area had a power cut about 1.15am.
Mr Tooman said a fourth person, who had been a passenger in the car but was dropped off in Huntly before the accident, was assisting police with their investigation.
The two victims were among five people killed on roads yesterday and the seven in total who died between the start of the holiday weekend at 4pm on Friday and early this morning.
The latest tragedy was a fatal single vehicle crash near Westport.
The crash happened at 11pm last night on Fairdown Rd (State Highway 67), just outside of the West Coast town.
One person died at the scene and diversions were in place while the serious crash unit completed the scene examination, inspector John Doherty said.
Yesterday afternoon, a 74-year-old woman died and a 72-year-old male driver was seriously injured when two cars collided on Kaikokopu Rd, 10km north of Wanganui.
Five people in the other car - including a boy and a girl both aged 16 - suffered minor to moderate injuries.
Police said the crash happened on a gravel road.
Also yesterday, a truck driver died in a truck crash near Kaikoura about 8.30am. The accident happened on State Highway 1 near the Conway River Bridge.
On Saturday, one person died in a two-car crash on State Highway 93 about 15km from Mataura in Southland, and on Friday another person was killed in Hawke's Bay.
Last year, eight people died on the roads during the full Labour Weekend period, which ends at 6am tomorrow.
Labour Weekend road toll
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.