Horror morning: three dead in crashes

Three people are dead in a horror morning on the roads.

Two people died after a crash between a car and truck on State Highway 4 near National Park, and another died after a car hit a tree on State Highway 7.

In the North Island's Central Plateau police are attending to the fatal crash that happened near Erua, between Ohakune and Tongariro National Park shortly before 8am.

The driver and a passenger in the car died.

The section between State Highway 49, near Ohakune and State Highway 47 has been closed as a result of the crash.

Police are also attending to another fatal incident at the intersection of State Highway 7 and Hurunui Bluff Road, Hurunui District.

A car had hit a tree and emergency services were alerted just before 7.30 this morning, police said.

The road has also been closed and diversions are being put in place.

"The Serious Crash Unit is now investigating and for that reason the road has been closed," a police spokeswoman said.

Yesterday, a two-car crash on Desert Road left eight people injured.

Four people are in Rotorua Hospital and three are in Waikato Hospital, and one, a two-year-old boy has been discharged.

All are believed to be in stable condition, and the discharged child will be kept with family members.

Eight people needed medical help after the cars collided at about 3pm yesterday, 5km north of the Tree Trunk Gorge Rd intersection.

Emergency services including four rescue helicopters, three ambulances and a First Response unit were called to the scene.

On arrival, they found six people were in a serious condition.

A police spokeswoman said the Serious Crash Unit was investigating.