Multiple people killed in crash on State Highway 1 south of Levin
Tuesday, 9 November 2021
One lane of State Highway 1 is now open after a major crash south of Levin that resulted in multiple deaths on Tuesday.
Police have said that the southbound lane is now open on the highway near Kuku East Rd and the northbound lane is due to reopen within the next 30 minutes.
Emergency services were called to the crash after a truck and a van crashed at 3pm.
Police confirmed multiple deaths, but said further information was unable to be provided yet.
A St John spokeswoman said paramedics treated one person at the scene, who was then taken to Palmerston North Hospital in a serious condition.
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* Three people injured in second SH1 intersection crash within minutes
* Four injured, one critically, after truck crash north of Levin
* Motorcycle rider and pillion passenger killed in SH1 crash near Levin
**
She referred questions about any other patients or injuries to police.
Manakau School opened to let stranded motorists use the school's toilets and get a “cuppa” around 6pm.
The stretch of road was notoriously dangerous, and the Automobile Association had called for it to be urgently replaced in February.
“We cannot forget this is among the most dangerous stretches of highway in New Zealand. In the previous two years there were six deaths and 17 people seriously injured from crashes on it,” AA spokesman Mike Noon told Stuff.
The call was prompted by two serious crashes near Ōhau in the previous two months, which Noon said highlighted just how important a new Ōtaki to Levin highway was, for both safety and to keep transport flowing.
The new highway wasn’t due to open until the end of the decade, but the AA urged the government to speed up the project.
Since then, there have been two more fatal crashes.
In March, Steven Hoani Bunyan died at the scene of a two-car crash at the intersection of the highway and Kuku Beach Rd.
In June, Foxton Beach residents Karen Slobbe, 59, and Francisus Slobbe, 60, were killed when the motorcycle they were on collided with a car.
That crash happened between Whakahoro and Kuku East roads, and closed the highway for hours.