Two people remain in hospital after three-car crash on SH2 at Pongakawa, Bay of Plenty

The road is expected to be closed for a few hours. Photo / George Novak

Two people remain in Waikato Hospital after a three-car crash on State Highway 2 in the Bay of Plenty.

Five people were injured and a section of the road was closed following the crash, at the intersection of Te Puke East and Wharere Rds in Pongakawa, just before 4pm yesterday.

Two people were airlifted to Waikato Hospital in critical condition.

This morning, a Waikato District Health Board spokeswoman said one patient remained critical in the Intensive Care Unit.

The other is in a serious but stable condition in the High Dependency Unit.

Yesterday, a police spokeswoman confirmed said five people had serious injuries but it was believed six people were involved.

About 90 minutes later, she said two of those had been updated to critical injuries and two people have been airlifted to Waikato Hospital.

In a statement, police said helicopters had been dispatched and diversions were in place.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand also sent crews to the crash, shift manager Paul Radden said.

He said there were two people trapped in separate cars and crews from Maketu and Pukehina used rescue equipment to remove them from the vehicles.

Waka Kōtahi New Zealand Transport Agency had closed the road between Pongakawa School Rd and Benner Rd in Pongakawa but it has since reopened.

SH2 PONGAKAWA - SERIOUS CRASH - 4:40PM
Due to a serious crash a section of #SH2 is CLOSED between Pongakawa School Rd and Benner Rd in Pongakawa. Follow the detour and expect delays. Detour here: https://t.co/QA7iXEECxY. ^MF pic.twitter.com/w3Y5zFvJox

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Waikato/BoP (@WakaKotahiWaiBP) January 20, 2021

A St John spokeswoman confirmed there were six patients involved in the crash with a mixture of moderate to serious injuries.

Three helicopters and three ambulances were sent to the scene.

St John received a call at 3.59pm, she said.