Three killed in Waihi Beach road smash

The small beachside community of Waihi Beach is reeling after three of their own were killed in a horrific car accident late on Friday night - and two others are critically injured.
Two teenagers and a 44-year-old father of three died at the scene - described by police as "a war zone" - just south of the Waihi Beach turnoff on State Highway 2.
Sergeant Dave Litton said Waihi Beach was a small town with rural policing and "most of us knew the people in the vehicles".
"That's harder to deal with.
"Telling four lots of parents that their children are dead or critically injured, and a wife that her husband and father of three has died is the worst job in the world.
"They all come from well known families in Waihi Beach and the community will be torn apart," said Mr Litton, officer in charge of the Waihi Police Station.
The accident occurred just before midnight when a Subaru, travelling north with four male teenagers inside, collided with a Nissan driven by the 44-year-old man.
The Subaru car was cut in half and two teenagers in the Subaru were thrown out on to the road. The two halves of the car were spread on each side of the road.
"It's the worst accident I've come across in terms of carnage. It looked like a war zone," Mr Litton said.
The two teenagers, 16 and 17, were killed. Two other teenagers, both 16, were taken by ambulance to Waikato Hospital in critical condition. One of the teenagers was this morning moved to the high dependency unit.
The 44-year-old man, the sole occupant of the Nissan, also died at the accident scene, after being trapped in his car.
Mr Litton said the road was wet at the time and it appeared one of the vehicles last control.
The teenagers in the Subaru did not have full drivers' licences and Mr Litton said the car did smell of alcohol.
Emergency services from Waikato and Hamilton attended the accident. The state highway was closed for five and a half hours.
Mr Litton said straight after the crash occurred, a driver of a third vehicle drove through without realising what had happened and hit one of the smashed cars with people in it. The female driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
A statement released by Waikato Police District said Serious Crash Unit investigators had carried out a preliminary examination and initial indications were the crash happened after the driver of the northbound Subaru lost control of his car and crossed the centreline into the path of the southbound Nissan.
Investigators had to use occupant kinetics to establish which of the ejected males was the driver.
It appeared speed, alcohol, not wearing seatbelts, driver inexperience and an inability to drive to the conditions were all contributing factors in the crash, the statement said.
Mr Litton said the crash was another example of a tragedy involving teenagers that could have been avoided. It followed on from two double fatal collisions and one triple fatal crash last year that involved drivers breaching the conditions of their graduated drivers licences.