A witness to a crash that killed a child in East Tāmaki claims the car “flew in the air at speed” before hitting a vehicle stopped at a traffic light.
Police this morning confirmed a child had died and four others were injured in a three-vehicle crash at an intersection in the Auckland suburb last night.
The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said the car she was a passenger in was approaching the traffic light when she saw a flash come through from the right and hit the car in front side-on.
“It pushed it all the way to our left and it hit another car along the way.
“It just happened all so fast and it was so loud and the glass just flew everywhere.”
The car spun after it collided with the first vehicle and then struck another, she told the Herald.
“From what my dad told me, it kind of hit something, that’s why it kind of flew in the air like if you were to go really fast at a speed bump,” they claimed.
“They were driving fast, they were flying through the air,” they claimed.
After the crash, the witness called 111 and the police arrived within five minutes.
Ambulances and a fire truck arrived after, she said.
The witness said she saw a man carry his daughter, who appeared to be 10 or 11, out of the vehicle that was struck first.
“I remember the dad saying, ‘my daughter, my daughter, my daughter’s in the car’.”
Nearby residents and people from other cars soon arrived at the scene.
“There ended up being lots of people trying to save the girl because they put her on the grass nearby and tried to give her CPR.”
The witness said she couldn’t believe the crash happened in front of her.
“I just kept on thinking that could have been us. It was also me, my sister, my young sister, my parents in the car. I was like, that could have been us if we were closer to them or like we ended up leaving from dinner earlier.”
She said she “couldn’t sleep at all” after the incident.
A resident who lives near the crash scene told the Herald he looked over his fence after he heard the impact and saw there had been an accident.
The man, who wished not to be named, heard people yelling a child’s name, which he later found out belonged to the child who died.
He grabbed a rescue kit and drove to the scene to “render assistance”.
The man said he was “sleepless most of the night” after the crash.
The Serious Crash Unit examined the scene and inquiries are ongoing.
Police said emergency services were called to the intersection between Smales Rd and Te Irirangi Drive at 8.05pm.
The injured child was taken to hospital in a critical condition but later died.
“Our thoughts are with the family at this incredibly difficult time,” police said.
Four other people received minor to moderate injuries.
Police said they were not in a position to comment further as the crash remains under investigation.
The resident said accidents at the intersection were a regular occurrence, so much so he has a rescue kit containing a flashlight, high-vis vest and a blanket in his home.
Every three or four months, a crash happens at the intersection, and it has been like that for the 13 years he has lived there, he said.
“This [yesterday’s crash] is the most tragic and most serious, although we have had other reasonably large accidents.”
When the speed limit on Te Irirangi Drive was 60km/h, it did not make a difference, he said.
“It’s just one of those things. It’s just people make mistakes in the rain most of the time at night.”
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