A Bay woman who died when her car split into two in a road smash on Friday has been named as Sophie Cristina Larsen.
She was an 18-year-old Massey University student from Papamoa.
Ms Larsen died when her car and another collided between Settlers Rd and the Reporoa Dairy Factory at 1.30pm.
Ms
Larsen was the only person in her wrecked vehicle.
Those in the other vehicle were understood to be Asian tourists. They were taken to Rotorua Hospital. Two suffered moderate injuries and the other two had minor injuries.
Inspector Kevin Taylor, road policing manager for the Bay of Plenty, said one of the cars appeared to have lost control.
The damage to Ms Larsen's was "quite dramatic. It is a tragedy."
Mr Taylor said police believed the road was wet at the time of the accident.
They had not found any skidmarks.
The highway was closed for more than four hours as police from Rotorua and Taupo examined the scene, with help from the Rotorua Fire Service.
