Deadly truck and car crash on State Highway 1 in Waikato

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Police used a crane to lift the truck and free the remains of the vehicle.

Jillian Kerley's only hope was that the car's occupant died instantly.

At 2.30am on Tuesday, she heard a bang outside her home on State Highway 1 between Tokoroa and Taupō.

Moments later, she found herself confronted with a car that had crumpled beneath a truck hauling frozen goods through the night.

'The car just started burning and one look at that we realised there was nothing we could do for the occupants,' Kerley said on Tuesday morning as police worked to free the car and the driver.

* Tributes flow for victims of triple-fatal crash in Hamilton**

'It was wedged right under the truck so anyone in the car, we can only hope, died on impact.'

Police examine the scene where a car and truck collided and burst into flames on SH1 at Atiamuri. The car has been removed and is on the deck of a tow truck.

There was nothing anyone could do with fire extinguishers, she said. The blaze was too fierce.

The collision happened about 500 metres north of the Bull Ring Cafe in Atiamuri - right outside Kerley's home.

Initially she couldn't see the crash as the truck heading north took some time to stop.

Police examine the scene where a car and truck collided and burst into flames.The car has been removed and is on the deck of a tow truck.

'Obviously the car had hit him but he had to keep moving forward, so I would say about 80 to 100m down from the initial impact site,' she said.

The car's driver had been coming out of the bend and the truck driver was on a straight when the crash took place, she believed.

'It is horrible. We are feeling it this morning that is for sure and certainly feeling for the truck driver and the family of whoever has been killed.

'It is awful news to be woken up to,' she said.

Police initially said there were believed to be 'a number of fatalities'.

But at 10.15am one person - the sole occupant of the car - was confirmed as the only person who died, Senior Sergeant Fane Troy of Bay of Plenty Road Policing said.

The truck driver was uninjured.

'The complex scene examination is continuing, and the road is likely to remain closed for several more hours.'

A crane was brought in to remove the vehicles.

State Highway 1 in Atiamuri is closed following a fatal crash involving a car and truck.

'Totally in flames'

Volunteer firefighters who arrived at the scene around 3am described a fiery scene.

'Both vehicles were totally involved in flames and the car was a mess under the front of the truck, it was nasty,' Tokoroa Fire Chief Dave Morris said.

'If there's anyone in there, there's no survivors.'

Brigades from Rotorua were brought in along with two tankers to douse the burning vehicles, Morris said.

'Because of the location we had to get water tankers and at that stage we weren't sure what the truck was carrying, so you need a lot of water.'

The trailer of the truck was undamaged, he said.

It appeared the truck was heading north and the car south when they crashed. The entire passenger side of the car went beneath the truck.

Both vehicles ended up on fire in the northbound lane on a moderate downhill stretch.

A worker at the Bull Ring Cafe said he woke to hear sirens at 3am.

He could not see the crash from the cafe but said a police car and tow truck were stopped on the highway about half a kilometre north of the cafe in an area of forestry.

'It could be just down the dip from where we are, I can see a few people coming up the hill.

'The road goes around a bit of a corner and into a dip across a bridge at the bottom.'

No traffic was moving along the highway, he said.

It's the second fatal crash on the highway in recent weeks.

Bikram Singh Sandhu and Mukul Jaglan were killed when the car Sandhu was driving collided with another car on SH1 at Ohakuri, about 35km south of Tokoroa, late last month.

Amit Sharma, who was in the back seat, survived.

This latest crash brings the national road toll so far this year to 324 deaths.

It follows another tragic collision in Hamilton at the weekend that claimed the lives of three people.

Hamilton couple Jeremy and Tania Kay were killed when their car, driven by the pair's son Mitchell, and another vehicle somehow crashed along Mangaharakeke Dr, just east of Grandview Rd early Sunday.

Mitchell's girlfriend, Grace Hill, 16, was also in the car and died at the scene.

Mitchell survived the crash and was yesterday in a stable condition in a ward at Waikato Hospital.

Police are still appealing for witnesses to the crash in which a Toyota Prado was seen speeding and driving erratically on a trip from Auckland.

Motorists travelling the highway between Taupō and Tokoroa are advised the highway will be closed for some time.

Northbound traffic is being diverted via SH30 and SH32, coming back onto SH1 at Tokoroa. For southbound traffic the detour follows the same route in reverse.