Horror Matamata crash: Three remain in critical condition, others stable

Three occupants remain critically injured today.

Three of five young people injured in a high-speed crash near Matamata remain in a critical condition.

The five youngsters, aged 10 to 13, were seriously injured after they were flung from their vehicle when it rolled and crashed into a ditch on Morrinsville-Walton Rd just before midnight on Monday.

Police arrived to find all five had been thrown from the Nissan Tiida - which had been stolen from Hamilton some hours earlier.

It's believed to have then been used in the ram raid of a vape shop in the small rural town.

A police spokesperson said two people remain in Waikato Hospital in a critical condition today.

Another is in a serious but stable condition; one is stable and one person has been transferred to Starship Hospital in a critical condition.

Inquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

Waikato District Commander Superintendent Bruce Bird said yesterday they were still investigating the circumstances but confirmed it had been stolen and that their inquiries suggested it had been involved in a ram raid of a local shop that night.

"It is too early to provide detail on the cause of the crash itself other than to say speed appears to be a likely factor," Bird said yesterday.