Woman, 96, dies after crash

An elderly woman has died after a crash in Northland.

A 96-year-old Northland woman has died after a crash in the Bay of Islands.

The woman, who was the driver, suffered head injuries and multiple fractures in the accident on Puketona Rd, just east of Puketona quarry, about 5pm on Friday. A passenger in the car escaped injury and no other vehicles were involved.

It is understood the car left the road and crashed through a wooden fence. The bottom railing lodged in the car's engine while the 4-metre long top railing went through the windscreen.

St John Northland operations manager Tony Devanney said the elderly woman was transported to Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa by ambulance, then flown to Whangarei Hospital by the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter. She died later in hospital.

Ambulances from Paihia and Kerikeri attended the crash, along with police and the Paihia Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Rex Wilson praised members of the public who tended to the injured woman until emergency services arrived.

"They did a fantastic job looking after her. Without them she wouldn't have had a chance of surviving," Mr Wilson said.

Firefighters had to cut the roof off the car and saw off the fence railing to free the woman driver.

Kerikeri police Senior Sergeant Peter Robinson said an investigation into the crash was under way. An expert from the police Serious Crash Unit was due to examine the scene yesterday.

The woman's death brings the Northland road toll for the year to date to 14, compared to nine at the same stage last year. Police have yet to release her name.