Pregnant woman, child seriously injured in three car crash

Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Photo / File

A young child and a pregnant woman were among four people seriously injured in a three car smash south of Whitianga last night.

The 4-year-old girl suffered critical head injuries in the crash, which occurred on State Highway 25 at Mill Creek Rd shortly before 6pm.

"Initial indications are that at about 5.45pm the female driver of a Nissan Bluebird car travelling from Whitianga on SH25 has gone to turn off the highway on to Mill Creek Rd when an Isuzu Bighorn SUV travelling in the same direction has collided with the rear of the car," Senior Constable Graham Fitzpatrick of the Waikato serious crash unit said.

"The impact of this collision appears to have shunted the car into the opposite lane resulting in a collision with an oncoming Holden Colorado utility."

The girl was in a critical condition with head injuries when emergency services arrived at the scene, both St John Ambulance and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter said.

She was airlifted to Auckland's Starship Hospital emergency department, where police said she was in a serious but stable condition.

"The pregnant driver of the car suffered minor injuries and was also airlifted to hospital as a precaution. The drivers of both 4WD vehicles were shaken but uninjured in the crash," Mr Fitzpatrick said.

Norm Ngatai, shift manager at the St John Ambulance northern communications centre, said the two other patients treated at the scene sustained moderate and minor injuries. They were taken to a local medical centre for treatment.

"Attending emergency service personnel acknowledged the work done by several members of the public who assisted the casualties before they arrived, in particular off-duty medical staff," Mr Fitzpatrick said.

"Police would like to hear from any of these Good Samaritans who haven't already been interviewed by police."

Due to heavy traffic in the area at the time, it is believed a lot of people would have witnessed the collision, Mr Fitzpatrick said. He called for them to come forward.

"The challenge for us is many motorists in this area are visitors or maybe even overseas tourists and we need to speak to them before they leave for home or head out of the country," he said.

"For that reason we're asking that if you saw something then do something -- ring Sergeant Andrew Morrison of the Whitianga police on 07 866 4000."