TOP STORY: we remember them

STAFF REPORTERS
Police will today examine what remains of the turbo-charged 1990 Mazda Familia to determine if Dylan Scott Brittin, 16, Michael Neil Jefferies, 17, Alex Scales, and 17-year-old Che Orbell-Pere, believed to be the driver of the car, were wearing seatbelts when they ploughed into a tree on Windsor Avenue about 11pm on Friday.
A text message on a cellphone found inside the wreckage with the simple question "are you alright?" was never answered.
Believed to be travelling 130km/h, the impact sounded "like a big can crunching, if you times it by 10," said Andrew Taputoro (19) who lives immediately beside where the car hit.
"I walked out and went towards the car and tripped over one of the boys lying on the ground. I checked his pulse, but he was dead. He was lying on his face, head down, blood pouring from his neck.
"There were bodies everywhere. Two out of the car, four in the car."
A female friend of Taputoro held Jaydden's hand. He told her his hips and legs were hurting, but was able to give her his name and telephone number. The girl dialled his mother for him, the call believed to have alerted the boys' parents to the accident.
A witness described Darren Brittin and Sonya Nichols, the parents of Dylan and Jaydden, arriving at the scene. A distraught and sobbing Mrs Nichols cradled the body of her teenage son.
"Sonya was lying on the ground hugging Dylan and crying that she wanted to take him home," the witness said. Peter Mason, who lived about 50 metres from the accident scene, arrived to see one boy, thought to be Ricky Moulder, thrown through a fence, and another who "looked run over."
Leah Morley (17), a classmate of Che Orbell-Pere, said she would never forget the scene that unfolded on her front lawn. "Please call my mum, I want mum," mumbled a bloody figure. A body lay nearby on the footpath, another on the mangled bonnet of the car.
Neighbours on the street spoke of hearing the turbo in the car, believed to be owned by Ricky Moulder, wind up long before they saw the vehicle.
One of those neighbours was Win Heuser, who had already seen the car go by.
"I said to my guests, 'those boys will not die in bed'.
"A few minutes later it crashed," Mr Heuser said.
He now regrets not having his cellphone with him, saying a call to police could have saved lives.
Debris from the smash - including glass from the windshield, Tui and Jim Beam labels, a wallet and the car's horn - was spread up to 17 metres away.
Among the remains of the car was a commemorative sticker: "In loving memory of Stephen Temperton 1987-2005. RIP Tings" (Temperton's nickname).
A friend of the boys, 18-year-old Stephen was killed in a car crash just two weeks ago. The boys had planned to wear blue bandanas as a tribute to him at Saturday night's Karamu High School Ball, which was postponed following the tragedy. Four of the boys had attended the school, which Che and Alex were still students there.
Survivors, Dylan's younger brother Jaydden Brittin, (15), and the Familia owner, Ricky Moulder (16), remain in Hawke's Bay Hospital in a serious but stable condition. The high-speed accident occured after the Familia driver swerved to miss another car in a 50kmh zone, hitting a lamppost and then the tree.
The scene is just minutes from both Karamu High School, and the Brittin home, the boys' destination that night.
They had planned to continue drinking at the Brittins' house. Che Orbell-Pere had apparently not been drinking, but a flattened box of Tui and broken bottles were found at the crash scene.
The boys had met with another group of vehicles earlier in the night, but were not believed to have been racing any other car when the accident happened.
Police had spoken to the driver of the vehicle that the boys tried to avoid, who confirmed the Mazda had been travelling at "excessive speed" and today planning to examine the vehicle the boys died in.
Friends of Ricky Moulder said the vehicle, which had been "tricked" with a boosted engine, mags and a large exhaust, had been driven at speeds up to 240kmh. It had been brought by Moulder's father two years ago for $6500.