Four children badly injured in crash

Four children have been seriously injured in a road smash involving the car they were in and a haulage truck.
Three children were flown to hospital and a fourth was driven to hospital by ambulance, all in serious condition, yesterday morning.
The crash happened about 10am at the intersection of Tamarangi Dr and Islington St in Kawerau. Sergeant Ray Wylie of the Whakatane police said the truck and trailer was travelling along Tamarangi Dr towards Loop Rd when it collided with a car turning into Islington St.
"The serious crash unit is investigating," Mr Wylie said.
Three of the five people in the car were not restrained. "This is a timely reminder to all motorists - wearing seatbelts is probably the easiest step people can take to save their life, the lives of others, or to prevent injury in a car but we're still blown away by the number of people who just don't get the message."
Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, he said.
The female driver of the car was taken to Whakatane Hospital by ambulance. Three of the four children were flown to Waikato and Rotorua hospitals. Another child was taken to Whakatane Hospital with the driver.
Waikato District Health Board communications officer Mary Anne Gill said two girls - a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old - were both in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Waikato Hospital. A 10-year-old child was expected to be transferred from Whakatane to be admitted to a ward at Waikato Hospital, she said.
Another child injured in the crash had apparently been transferred from Rotorua Hospital to Starship, she said.
The truck driver was not hurt.
One woman at the scene, who didn't want to be identified, said she saw three helicopters land at the netball courts near the crash scene. Two fire trucks and three ambulances also attended, she said.
She saw ambulance staff attending to the four children who had been in the car.
Another woman, who also didn't want to be identified, said she was at her home a few metres down the road when she heard a "big bang". When she went out to see what had happened she saw the driver was a friend of hers.
"She looked badly shaken but she was alright."
The woman said she saw firefighters cut the left-hand side of the car open to get the children out of the car, but the driver was able to get out on her own.
"When I got here she was just getting out of the car. Two [children] were squashed right under the passenger seat," the woman said.
A relative of the driver, who didn't want to be named, arrived at the crash scene minutes after it happened.
"The kids didn't look too good. They're hurt but they're alive," the family member said.
Another family member said the woman had been driving the children to a holiday programme in Kawerau.