KEY POINTS:
Rescuers used their bare hands to lift the wreckage of a van off a driver trapped underneath with scalding oil pouring into his mouth after a train hit his vehicle near Auckland yesterday.
The man apparently pulled out in front of the train, which shunted his van into
a ditch.
The crash that left him fighting for his life is the 20th at a rail crossing this year.
Police, firefighters and St John paramedics found the man critically injured underneath the wreck after the crash, alongside State Highway 16 west of Kumeu, at 11.55am. The Westpac rescue helicopter flew him to Auckland City Hospital.
The crash has prompted a warning from rail operator Toll NZ that accidents at level crossings traditionally increase from October to December.
Spokeswoman Sue Foley said five of this year's accidents had been fatal.
Alan Parker, who lives down the road from the crash scene, said he heard the train coming "and I heard it blow its horn and next thing I heard a huge bang and then all the sirens coming about five minutes later".
Dave Speedy, who lives opposite the crash scene, feared that his son was involved. "I sped across there because my son's got a white van and the driver was in a white van."
When he arrived, a man aged "40 odd" was crushed under the wreckage.
"He was out of the van but sort of jammed in the doorway," Mr Speedy said.
"He was breathing heavily but he had his mouth open and all the hot engine oil was draining down his throat and all over him.
"We just put a sheet of plywood over him to divert it.
"While I was doing that I gave my mobile to another bloke and said, 'Call 111'."
Mr Speedy believed the injured man had just delivered furniture to a business nearby.
Sergeant Stu Kearns of the Waitemata serious crash unit said the train was estimated to have been travelling about 50 km/h.
The crash had occurred on a private driveway marked with stop signs warning drivers of the rail track.
It was not known if the man had been wearing a seatbelt.
Emergency services used manpower to hold up the van to keep its weight off the man until he could be freed.
The serious crash unit is investigating the cause of the accident.