Two people have been treated for moderate facial injuries following a two-car crash east of Rotorua.
Emergency services were called to the crash on State Highway 30 at Rotoiti at 3.40pm.
Two people with moderate injuries were taken by ambulance to Rotorua Hospital and three more people suffered minor injuries, a St John spokeswoman said.
A police spokeswoman said it appeared the cars were in a head-on collision and one car was down a bank, she said.
Two people with facial injuries had got out of one of the cars, she said.
It was not clear how many people were in the second car and what their injuries were.
One of the cars needed to be towed from the scene.
Police had to divert traffic until the road was cleared at 5.45pm.
The police's Serious Crash Unit is investigating.