A 70-year-old Canadian woman last night remained in a serious condition and three others were described as stable after a major crash at the Athenree Gorge about 2.30pm on Saturday.
Two of the six people involved had to be cut from the wreckage of the two-car crash on State Highway 2 and the intersection of Athenree Rd and three were airlifted to hospital. Three others were taken to hospital by ambulance.
In one car was an elderly Canadian couple and in the other was a middle-aged couple and their two teenage children, believed to be from Auckland.
Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter pilot Todd Dunham said he flew the 70-year-old woman to Waikato Hospital with neck and chest injuries while the Auckland-based Westpac Rescue helicopter flew a 16-year-old girl and her mother to Auckland Hospital with serious injuries.
The elderly woman's 72-year-old husband was driven to Waikato Hospital by ambulance and a 13-year-old boy and his 43-year-old father were driven to Tauranga Hospital, he said.
"There were some serious injuries," he said. "All accidents are nasty. Just some are worse than others. It was very lucky there was no fatalities."
Police and firefighters closed the highway around the crash scene for about half an hour to allow the helicopters to land on the road and get the patients loaded in, he said.
Tauranga Hospital communications manager Diana Marriott said the teenage boy and his father were treated and discharged on Saturday night.
An Auckland Hospital spokeswoman said the 16-year-old and her mother were in stable conditions in the hospital and Waikato Hospital spokeswoman Mary Anne Gill said the 70-year-old woman was in a serious but stable condition in the high dependency unit while her 72-year-old husband was stable in a ward.
Waihi fire chief Moe Stevens said the two people cut from the car were not completely trapped but needed to be removed gently because of their injuries.
They did not have any obvious physical injuries such as cuts but were believed to have internal injuries and back pains, he said.
One lane remained open and traffic was diverted around the crash site except for the half hour when the State Highway was closed to allow the helicopters to land. Three fire trucks, about five ambulances and several police cars were at the scene as were two helicopters, Mr Stevens said.