Three tourists critically injured after head-on crash on Coromandel Peninsula road

Wednesday, 2 May 2018

A Swedish honeymooner came to the aid of three tourists who were involved in a head-on crash.

A Swedish volunteer fire fighter was first on the scene of a serious crash on the Coromandel where a tourist driver crossed the centre line.

Tuesday night's head-on on the Kopu-Hikuai Rd was the third he'd come across in ten days.

Police have now said the three Asian women travelling in a rental van involved in the head-on smash about 8pm had just flown into New Zealand earlier that day.

They were heading to the Coromandel on holiday when their van is believed to have crossed the centreline and crashed head-on with another vehicle on State Highway 25A not far from the Kopu intersection.

The women, aged 29, 30 and 31, were initially taken to Thames Hospital in a serious condition.

They were later transferred to Waikato Hospital where two of the woman's conditions had deteriorated, Waikato road police Senior Sergeant Pete van de Wetering said.

'They're in a critical condition now and one is in a serious condition, so we're making inquiries via Interpol to contact the womens' next of kin.' he said on Wednesday.

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First on the scene was the Swedish newlywed.

The remains of the black rental car that crashed on the Kopu Hikuai on Tuesday night.

He helped provide first aid to the trio who were the most seriously injured in the black rental car, Thames Fire Brigade senior station officer Shane Bromley said.

'He'd been in New Zealand for 10 days and come across three crashes already,' he said.

One of the females was initially trapped in the vehicle. Firefighters cut open the door to free her.

The male driver of the second vehicle was out of the ute and walking around by the time firefighters arrived.

Van de Wetering confirmed the local man was uninjured.

Police closed down SH25A at either end from 11.30am on Wednesday to allow the police Serious Crash Unit to conduct an investigation. It was likely to remain closed for two or three hours.

'We won't comment on the cause of the crash until we have completed our scene examination and other inquiries.'

The crash was a tragic outcome for the women, he said.

'We're certainly hoping the injured women can make a recovery.'

Photographs of the vehicle show it suffered serious frontal damage and was hardly recognisable from the front.

This is the second serious crash on the highway this week.

On Monday morning a ute struck the front of a truck, leaving at least one person with serious injuries.

'Drivers need to drive to their ability and conditions - every road is different and 100kmh is not a target,' van de Wetering said.

Bromley said the brigade was regularly called to crashes on the stretch of highway that traverses the gorge from Thames to Hikuai.

'I think it comes down to driver inattention. People have a lot more devices in their vehicles these days and they need to concentrate on driving.

'With winter coming up drivers need to concentrate and get to their destination.'