The family of an 11-year-old had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life-support today. Photo / File
The family of an 11-year-old had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life-support today. Photo / File
The family of an 11-year-old who was critically injured in a horror crash in Ngaruawahia were forced to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life-support.
The boy died in Waikato Hospital on Saturday after a car with seven children, aged between 9 and 15, ploughed into a treeon Durham St just after 6pm on Friday.
His family is in tatters and another three families face an anxious wait as they keep bedside vigils for the six other children who were hospitalised with serious to critical injuries.
Police said the children came from four Ngaruawahia families and many were related, either as siblings or cousins.
It was not clear yet who was driving the vehicle but nobody in the white Toyota Wish was old enough to obtain a driver's licence.
A community board member said there had been a meeting of friends connected to the families on Saturday morning and a decision was made not to speak to media until the families were ready.
Waikato District mayor Allan Sanson said the crash would hit the tight-knit community hard.
"It's really tragic this has actually happened. You've just got to feel for the families involved."
Sanson said the crash was "catastrophic" for the tiny Waikato town because most people would know the children or their whanau.
It's understood some of the children attend Waipa Primary School in the town.
"I was actually sitting here watching TV1 just after 6pm and suddenly there was a sort of a bang and I thought it was an earthquake."
Dalziel said he thought his roof was falling in.
"I went around the front and then I spotted it, a car had gone up into a tree."
His neighbours rushed to the aid of the children before emergency services arrived.
Waikato Police are investigating the crash and said it was too early to determine who was driving or the cause.
"This is an absolute tragedy for a number of families and the community as a whole," Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Ambler said.
"All of the youths are local to the area and our thoughts are with the family and friends of all those involved."
Ambler said police were calling for witnesses who may have seen the white Toyota Wish between 5pm and 6.15pm in the Ngaruawahia township on Friday.
"Inquiries are continuing with the registered owner of the vehicle, who is known to the occupants of the vehicle.
"While our thoughts are with the families of those involved, police are urging drivers to exercise caution on the roads, to drive to the conditions and to ensure people behind the wheel know their limits," Ambler said.
