Two pedestrians dead in Papatoetoe, Auckland

Saturday, 14 April 2018

The scene where a bus struck two men crossing a South Auckland road, who then died.

Two men are dead after being hit by a bus while crossing a road.

The men were on the Wyllie and Puhinui roads intersection in Papatoetoe, when they were hit by a Metro Airport bus at about 7pm on Saturday.

The scene where two men died after being struck by a bus when crossing a road in Auckland.

Police Senior Sergeant Pete Marriott addressed the media near the location at 8.30pm.

The men were locals, and appeared to be crossing the road, Marriott said.

It was extremely sad, and the driver was being given support, he said.

The company that operates the bus was extremely distressed, Calum Haslop, Go Bus chief executive said.

'Words cannot begin to express our sorrow to the families of those who lost their lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. We are supporting the driver, who will understandably be stood down whilst the investigation is underway and their wellbeing is cared for. We will continue to assist and work with investigators.'

Several diversions had been put in place while investigations were conducted, however the bodies of the two deceased had been removed from the scene.

The diversions are in place on Noel Burnside Road, Vision Place and Gifford Road.

Loud sobs of two female relatives could be heard in the background by those tuning into the stand-up by social media

Patricia Poki lives opposite the intersection on Puhinui Rd.

All the people in her lounge, including a guest, had full view of the accident as it happened.

Her friend was so inconsolable after the crash, she sent him home.

He was struggling to deal with the horror of the situation, Poki said.

Ambulance crew have removed the bodies from the road.

Wyllie Road resident Kushal Kavita and her family have been scared to negotiate the intersection since its lights and crossing gear lost power on Saturday morning.

'Even in a car it's really scary for us, it's really dark.'

Hardeep Mann from the nearby Mobil service station said there are a lot of ambulances and police cars at the scene.

Motorists are being asked to avoid the area while the Serious Crash Unit investigates.