Three of the six young people in this wrecked sedan were taken to hospital in a critical condition on Saturday night.
Three of the six young people in this wrecked sedan were taken to hospital in a critical condition on Saturday night.
Nine people were taken to Gisborne Hospital after a two-car crash on State Highway 35.
Three young people suffered critical injuries; one was flown to Waikato Hospital.
The crash caused a power outage affecting 1056 customers; power was mostly restored by 9.40pm.
Nine people, three of them with critical injuries, were taken to Gisborne Hospital on Friday night after a two-car crash on State Highway 35 at Wainui.
The Coast highway was closed for about four hours, severely disrupting traffic heading both ways.
The crash happened about 8.30pm near Oneroa Rd.
The crash scene on State Highway 35. Photo / Murray Robertson
An emergency services spokesman said it appeared the crash happened during an overtaking manoeuvre.
“A car with six young people in, aged in their teens and early 20s, appeared to have clipped another car with the grandmother and her young ones in it,” a senior firefighter said.
“The grandmother’s car left the road and took out a concrete power pole alongside the adjacent footpath.”
One car left the highway and took out a concrete power pole. The replacement pole is shown in this picture. The other car ended 80 metres down the road towards Gisborne after it rolled. Photo / Murray Robertson
“The other vehicle travelled about 80 metres down the road before it rolled, also going off the road on the same side of the highway.”
Three of the six young people suffered what were described as “critical” injuries in the crash, a St John spokesman said.
“Bystanders had them all out of their badly damaged vehicle by the time we got there,” the senior firefighter said.
“The other three people in it had some minor injuries.”
One of the three critically injured people was flown to Waikato Hospital.
The other two remained in Gisborne Hospital.
No further update on their condition was available.
The grandmother and the two boys - one aged 4, the other in his early teens - were out of their car by the time emergency services arrived.
They were also transported to hospital.
“They were all kept in overnight for observation and then discharged on Sunday.
“They all had some moderate injuries,” the St John ambulance spokesman said.
A car with a woman and her two grandchildren in it hit the power pole and then ploughed into a fence and small embankment alongside the footpath. Photo / Murray Robertson
The concrete power pole was broken and the powerlines left hanging in the air.
“Power was restored to almost everyone by 9.40pm,” said George Drysdale, manager Firstlight Network Operations.
“The power outage affected 1056 customers.
“Our team had power restored to 1000 customers in 45 minutes after the initial outage.”
The pole was replaced on Sunday morning during daylight hours.
“There were 15 customers off overnight due to a low voltage clash with high voltage conductors, and the premises required a safety inspection before power could be restored,” Drysdale said.
“A planned outage to restore all customers was undertaken on Sunday morning once all repairs had been completed.”
