A witness to the crash was sitting at La Bonne bakery when he heard a huge bang.
He looked over to see a car upside down with smoke coming out of it.
Both he and another man ran to the car with fire extinguishers from their vehicles.
Four people had moderate injuries. Photo / SuppliedHe said traffic was backed up as far as he could see on Tarawera Rd.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said no one had been trapped in the vehicles and crews were helping with scene safety.
A reporter at the scene said three police cars and two tow trucks were at the scene and an ambulance had just left.
She said one car was upside down and it appeared the boot of the car was full of luggage.
By 1.15pm, the crash scene had been cleared.
Traffic had picked up and was moving through the intersection, the reporter said.