State Highway 36 reopens after logging truck river plunge

State Highway 23 between Pyes Pa and Hamurana has fully re-opened after a logging truck that plunged into a river was recovered.

The stretch was closed between 12pm and 4.30pm while the truck was being retrieved from the river.

The road was the direct route between Rotorua and Tauranga.

The logging truck went off the road and crashed into a river on Pyes Pa Rd yesterday afternoon at about 4.30pm

A Bay of Plenty District Health Board spokeswoman said the driver, a 51-year-old Cambridge man, was now in a stable condition in Tauranga Hospital.