Family struck by three crashes

The death of a man after a car crash 10 days ago has triggered a tragic series of road accidents involving his family, one of which killed a two-week-old baby and his mother and left four others in hospital.

The first accident involved Robert Marino, of Taupo, who died in hospital after crossing a centreline and colliding with an oncoming truck and trailer.

The 44-year-old's tangi was held on Saturday at the Oruanui Marae near Taupo. It became a horrific weekend for his extended family.

At 11.45pm, just minutes after his cousin Sapphire Marino, her husband, Joseph Rewiti, and four young children left the tangi, all six were thrown from their car as it crashed.

Police said they were not wearing seatbelts.

Two of those in the crash were in a critical condition last night.

Constable Mark Bond said the car crossed the centreline, hit a bank and rolled before coming to rest 50m down the road about 5km north of Taupo.

Mrs Marino, 23, who was in the front passenger seat, died at the scene.

Other relatives who had also been leaving the tangi arrived soon after to find her body in the middle of the road.

Her two-week-old son, Lyric, and 1-year-old daughter Neriana lay critically injured on a grass verge.

Lyric Marino died in hospital early yesterday and last night Neriana was fighting for her life in Starship hospital, Auckland.

Mr Bond, a member of the Taupo crash unit, said emergency service workers found a scene of chaos.

"It was just a nightmare. It took us a little while to realise that just one vehicle was involved because there were cars parked all over the place.

"Then it took us a little while to figure out how many people and who was in the car."

Jospeh, a 37-year-old mill worker, was found lying on the ground with serious head injuries.

He was flown to Taupo and then Waikato hospitals in the Westpac air ambulance and last night was in a critical condition.

A member of the public who had stopped to help found another child, 2-year-old Joseph Marino-Tiopara lying in the grass at the top of a bank after hearing him crying.

After an extensive search by police that included the use of a dog the fourth child, 4-year-old Blade Marino, was found lying 30m away in a paddock.

The children are in a stable condition in Waikato and Rotorua hospitals.

A relative staying at the marae, John Paki, said the family was devastated.

"She [Sapphire] was a lovely girl." He said her parents would come over from Australia for the tangi.

Mr Bond said that although the scene of Saturday night's accident was awful, the sad thing was that lives were taken unnecessarily.

"Four children under five - all of them should have been in approved child restraints," he said.

"The car in itself was beaten around and scratched. All the panels were totally done in but the interior of the car was basically intact. If all those people in that car had been properly restrained then I think we would have had a completely different result."

Mr Bond said Taupo police had just completed a seatbelt campaign in the region. Mrs Marino had even been pulled over by a highway patrol a couple of weeks ago and warned because her children were not restrained.

"Getting the message across, it's hard work."

Yesterday, as the children's aunt travelled along State Highway 1 from Taupo to Rotorua to visit them, fate struck the Marino family again.

A car towing a boat and trailer hit the aunt's car, causing it to roll several times.

Mr Bond said the aunt, who suffered moderate injuries, and another female passenger were lucky to be alive. The passenger had to be cut from the car but suffered only minor injuries.

"They were all restrained and were held into the car."

If they had not been wearing seatbelts they would have died.

In an accident near Wellsford a female car driver died after a collision with a truck.

The truck driver suffered moderate injuries.

Road carnage

December 10: Robert Marino hits oncoming truck and trailer. He dies in hospital several days later.

December 18: Sapphire Marino attends his tangi. On the way home her car crashes, throwing all six occupants out of the window. Two die.

December 19: An aunt of Sapphire's injured children drives to see the children in hospital. She is hit by a car towing a boat and trailer and suffers moderate injuries.