Mid North mayhem: Scrub fire, serious crash and fleeing driver

Two riders were airlifted to Whangārei Hospital after a serious crash in South Hokianga involving a car and two Harley Davidson motorcycles. Photo / file

Two motorcyclists have been badly injured in a collision with a car on State Highway 12 in South Hokianga.

The smash occurred at 4pm on Thursday between Ōmāpere and Waimamaku, near the junction with Diamond Rd.

The riders were flown in a serious condition in separate helicopters to Whangārei Hospital. Both were on Harley Davidsons, with one rider sustaining head and facial injuries.

The driver of the Nissan car suffered only minor injuries.

Police, St John Ambulance and the Ōmāpere Fire Brigade attended, along with the Northland Emergency Services Trust helicopters.

A short time later, about 4.25pm, a bus driver is understood to have suffered minor injuries in a collision with a car at Maromaku, south of Kawakawa.

The driver of the Toyota Camry is believed to have fled on foot into scrub. His passenger was taken into police custody.

There were no passengers on the bus at the time.

Police and the Kawakawa Fire Brigade attended.

No further details were available at edition time yesterday.

Another person was injured — this time by fire — when a burn-off got out of control and sparked a large scrub fire south of Kaikohe at 1.30pm.

The incident occurred on Mangakahia Rd near Nukutawhiti. Kaikohe urban and rural fire crews fought the blaze which initially covered an area of about 1500sq m.

The person's burns were understood to be minor.