Horrific crash puts family in hospital

Photo / File photo

Two children and their parents are in hospital after a horrific crash near Taupo.

The father, 25, was cut from the wreckage and is fighting for his life with severe head injuries.

The mother, also 25, has a serious cut on her head while a boy, 6, and a girl, 1, received moderate injuries.

Taupo Greenlea Rescue Helicopter pilot, Nat Every, said the family's Mitsubishi Pajero rolled and spun off the East Taupo Arterial Rd about 1pm yesterday.

The left side of the car was crushed and the front passenger door was ripped off, he said.

"Blood was splattered around the car, it was not pleasant," Every said.

"There were skid marks up the road so they've done a snaky thing and rolled .. it landed upright but facing the direction it came from."

Firefighters freed one person with the jaws of life.

Three rescue helicopters from Taupo, Rotorua and Waikato airlifted the family to Waikato Hospital.

The man was critically ill. The woman was was in a serious but stable condition and the children were stable.