Motorist fighting for life after crash on Napier-Taupo Rd

The scene of the serious crash on Sunday evening along State Highway 50 near Tikokino. Photo / Duncan Brown

A man was fighting for his life in hospital last night after he was rescued from a car crash along the Napier-Taupo Rd yesterday.

Fire crews worked to extricate the 72-year-old man from a car before the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter transported him to Hawke's Bay Hospital with head injuries.

A hospital spokeswoman said he was in a critical condition in intensive care last night.

A police spokesperson said emergency services were called to the two-car crash 30km south of Taupo just before 6.15am in the area of Maunganamu on State Highway Five.

The road was reopened to one lane at about 10.30am and a stop and go remained in place until 1.45pm due to the damage on Waipunga Falls Bridge.

A temporary speed limit of 50km/h was in place and the New Zealand Transport Agency advised motorists to delay their journeys or use alternative routes.

This latest incident followed a serious crash on State Highway 50 near Tikokino on Sunday where one person was trapped and three others were left injured.

Emergency services were called to the two-car crash near the Gwavas Rd intersection at about 5.40pm on Sunday. The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter took a 54-year-old man with leg and head injuries to Hawke's Bay Hospital.

Rescue helicopter general manager Ian Wilmot said the man had been trapped in the car and was cut free by fire crews before being taken to hospital.

Two others with moderate injuries, and another with minor injuries, were taken to hospital by St John ambulance. A Hawke's Bay Hospital spokesperson said two children, a male and female aged 11-12, were in stable conditions as well as a female in her 40s.

The 54-year-old man was stable last night.

The road was closed while emergency services attended the scene but it reopened on Sunday night.

The Serious Crash Unit was investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.