Bodies found after fatal plunge

By AINSLEY THOMSON and NZPA

Two bodies were last night recovered from a car that plunged over a 100m cliff north of Wanganui.

Police, who used a crane to haul the car out of the Mangawhero River, were still looking for two other young people who may have been in the vehicle.

Wanganui Senior Constable Barry Billows said terrain in the area - about 800m south of Raupu Bridge in the South Kakatahi area, near Wanganui - made the recovery process difficult and painstaking.

"It was a bit of a nightmare, really, with overhanging trees and things."

The two teenagers had been identified and their families had been advised. However, police did not want to release their names, genders or exact ages until issues surrounding any other victims were resolved.

"We are looking for more persons - there were believed to be four in the car," Mr Billows said.

The police dive squad would return to the scene this morning and it was likely a helicopter would also help with the search.

The accident late on Wednesday night was seen by a motorist driving south on State Highway 4 towards Wanganui.

The driver was approaching a corner and could see the lights of an oncoming car, but on reaching the corner saw the lights plummeting over the sheer cliff and into the river 100m below.

The driver headed back to a local school, where a meeting was being held, and rang emergency services.

Yesterday, an extensive search was carried out, with police divers locating the car submerged in the flood-swollen river in the afternoon.

Sergeant Rangi Maniapoto, of Wanganui, said it was thought the deceased were local.

The accident happened on the stretch of highway known locally as the Paraparas. The narrow road twists through the steep hill country between Wanganui and Raetihi and is notorious for its hairpin corners.

One local woman said it was lucky someone had seen the accident happen because of its remote location.

"If someone hadn't seen them go over you wouldn't know where to look."

The accident happened about 200m from Stephen Anstis' farm.

He said personal belongings from inside the car were strewn over the road and bank - which was how police had identified those in the car.

Robyn Mann, who owns the Raukawa Falls Store on the Paraparas, said the weather on Wednesday night had been terrible.

"We had so much rain, it was really heavy, almost like the storm. I just don't know what someone would be doing driving in it. It's a hard road to drive anyway."

* One person is dead and two schoolchildren injured after a van and a school bus collided in Taupo yesterday.

The driver of the van died at the scene of the 3.30pm crash near Taupo Nui a Tia College, police said. No further details would be released until next of kin had been informed.

Two children on the bus were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The crash delayed school buses for over an hour. Some children who saw it are receiving counselling.