Three women are lucky to be alive after a horrific head-on crash on the Napier-Taupo road on Saturday.
The cars - a white Nissan Cefiro with one female driver travelling towards Taupo and a white Mazda Familia carrying a female driver and a female passenger travelling towards Napier - collided at
high speed near Tarawera about 12.15pm.
Two of the three women lay trapped for almost an hour before being cut free from the wreckage.
The Lowe Corporation and Lion Foundation rescue helicopters airlifted both drivers, aged 24 and 26, to Hawke's Bay Hospital. The women had multiple injuries, and were barely conscious at the scene. It is believed one driver who was pregnant, has since miscarried.
The female passenger was taken by road to hospital with minor injuries.
Helicopter pilot Dean Herrick said one of the cars was on its roof, the other on its side.
"They are definitely lucky to survive, if you see the cars the damage is amazing, they are very lucky," he said.
There were "car bits for miles" and the make of vehicles were unrecognisable.
The interior and seats were crumpled on both cars, and made escape impossible for the two drivers.
The passenger was assisted from the car by members of the public.
Mr Herrick said it appeared one woman broke all her limbs in the crash.
He said it was one of the worst accidents he had seen in recent times.
The cars collided on the corner of Tataraakina Road and SH 5.
The road was closed for nearly three hours on both sides of Tarawera.
This morning the two drivers were both in a serious but stable condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital. The passenger was likely to be discharged tomorrow.
In another accident on the Napier-Taupo road, a truck carrying wool bales rolled early this morning.
A whoosh and a bang woke Anne McKeon at 6.40am.
The Te Pohue accountant and her husband rushed to the window to see a Napier-bound Freightlines truck on its side on the road.
They ran down their driveway to find the driver who had been following the truck smashing in the windscreen to free the injured driver. Napier police want the man who freed the driver to get in contact with them.
He was a Hawke's Bay shearer driving a red Datsun ute with a white canopy.
