Mother, daughter die in car crash

The front of the car was crushed by the force of the impact, and the two women were trapped inside until emergency services arrived. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Witnesses were unable to save a woman and her elderly mother who died after they were trapped in a smoking car wreck in Pukekohe yesterday.

Meryle Lovell, 61, and her 85-year-old mother, Laura Hays, died after the car they were in ran over a roundabout and ploughed into two large macrocarpa trees in Bledisloe Park.

Mrs Lovell was driving and police are investigating whether a medical condition caused her to lose control.

Witnesses said they heard a loud bang and rushed to try to help the two women who were trapped in the mangled Nissan stationwagon, which was billowing smoke.

Project manager Andrew Harrison, who was working on a building nearby, said he rushed to the wreck and tried to cool the smoking engine with a fire extinguisher.

Another woman called an ambulance and others directed traffic away from the scene.

Mr Harrison said he could see Mrs Lovell pinned between the steering wheel and pillar but could do nothing for her.

Seconds earlier, he had seen the car "come through the roundabout and hit a tree before bouncing off and hitting another tree".

A resident who lives near the scene said she was on the phone when she saw a flash as the accident happened. "It hit the roundabout and kept going. It just bounced [off the tree]."

Mrs Lovell's family were last night too upset to talk about the loving grandmother of six and her mother, who had recently been cared for by Mrs Lovell after breaking her hip.

Ambulance, police and the fire department arrived a short time after the accident and cordoned off Harris and Edinburgh Streets, where the speed limit is 50km/h.

Senior station officer Graeme Wilson said firefighters had to cut the side of the station wagon off to get to Mrs Hays, who later died on the way to Middlemore Hospital.

Mrs Lovell died at the scene.

Mr Wilson said the car's airbags inflated, and both women were wearing seatbelts.

Senior Sergeant John Yearbury said police believed Mrs Lovell may have had some kind of medical incident before the accident, as there were no skid marks near the crash site.

The cause of the crash is being investigated by the serious crash unit and post-mortem examinations will be done.

Mrs Lovell's son Simon said last night it was too soon to talk about the tragedy.

He lives next door to his mother in the Coromandel town of Waihi, where other neighbours described Mrs Lovell as a "very nice lady".

She grew up in Auckland and worked at a variety of jobs in the city, as well as raising two sons.

She is believed to have retired and moved to Waihi with her husband, Neil, in 2008.

Mrs Lovell enjoyed spending time with her family, including taking her grandchildren skating.

She had also cared for her mother after she broke her hip in May.

She kept friends and family updated on Facebook saying: "Mum has finally ... today Sunday, Mothers Day, been taken to surgery to have surgery on her broken hip ... it was a long day yesterday at the hospital but we got through it ... stay strong Mum ... we all love you and those 'littleies' love their gran".

This month she posted pictures of her mother celebrating her 85th birthday after returning from hospital. She and her young granddaughter had made chocolate muffins for the party.

"We had a fun lunch, Summer helped make the chocolate muffins & we had lots of laughter & fun," she wrote.