A rubbish truck driver is receiving support after being involved in a crash that killed one person near Rotorua this morning.
Police were called to the two-vehicle crash on Dansey Rd shortly before 8am.
Two other people were injured, one of them seriously, police said.
The Serious Crash Unit is at the scene. Dansey Rd remains closed, with diversions in place on State Highway 5.
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure and assets general manager Stavros Michael said a truck from its contractor, Smart Environmental, was involved in the crash.
“This is obviously a very distressing matter for everyone involved and our thoughts are with those involved and their families at this time,” Michael said.
Smart Environmental was providing support to the driver, and the council had also offered its support if needed.
Mayor Tania Tapsell said: “Our hearts are absolutely broken to hear that there has been a fatality in our community. We send our love to all those involved.”
A man at the cordon, who didn’t want to be named, earlier said he got word of the crash and went immediately to support family members arriving there, including the mother of a little girl believed to have been in a car that collided with the rear of the rubbish truck.
He said the crash was about 2km from the State Highway 5 turnoff.
There was frustration for the family as they were not able to get to the scene.
“I tried to ask the cop if we could go up because I was standing there on the side of the road with the mother of the kid.“
Motorists were asked to take alternative routes if possible.
Members of the public spoke to the police at the cordon, a reporter at the scene said.
Several cars were parked near the intersection.
Mamaku Volunteer Fire Brigade posted to its Facebook page that Dansey Rd was closed. Drivers were asked to avoid it and to “drive safe”.
Hato Hone St John was notified of the crash at 7.58am.
They responded with one ambulance and one rapid response vehicle and took one patient in a serious condition to Rotorua Hospital.
One patient in a moderate condition was assessed and treated at the scene, a spokesperson said.
The reporter at the scene said several police cars and fire appliances had come from Dansey Rd and headed towards Rotorua. The cordon was still in place, run by traffic management staff.
A 64-year-old man was arrested at an Ōrewa property this morning.