By JO-MARIE BROWN
Four of the five people who died in a car crash south of Rotorua on Sunday were returning home from a kapa haka practice in Taupo.
Members of the Maori performance group Mai Maketu ki Tongariro began gathering in Rotorua yesterday for a tangi at Ohinemutu's Te Papaiouru
Marae to mourn the victims.
The group's members are spread across the Bay of Plenty and central North Island and they have been holding kapa haka practices most weekends in preparation for a regional competition in December.
But they never dreamed they would be meeting again so soon after farewelling one another in Taupo on Sunday afternoon.
Three adult members of the group and four children who were travelling with them were in a Volvo on their way home on State Highway 5 when they were in collision with two southbound cars.
Two of the children - Chase Brooker, 8, of Kawerau, and Jacob Willemsen, also 8, of Rotorua - died at the scene. The two other boys, aged 5 and 10, remain in a critical condition in Auckland's Starship hospital.
Two of the adult occupants - Rawinia Kingi, 32, and Rimmon Morrison, 25, both of Rotorua - also died and a third was seriously injured and is in intensive care at Rotorua Hospital.
Sergeant Anthony van Dorp of the Rotorua strategic traffic unit said it appeared that none of those crammed into the Volvo had been wearing seat- belts.
"The other big issue is we're really focusing on speaking to witnesses to look at the manner of driving in the weather conditions," he said.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the kapa haka group, Anaru Grant, said everybody was deeply shocked by news of the accident.
"Everybody's grieving. Everybody's hurting," he said.
Elsewhere, other people were also trying to come to grips with the tragedy.
Three other people were also hurt in the crash, including a Hawkes Bay couple.
Lorraine Roxburgh, 56, of Taupo, was the fifth person killed. She was travelling home with her husband, Ian.
Mr van Dorp would like anyone who saw any of the vehicles before the crash, or the crash itself, to contact police on (07) 349-9400.
