Muriwai Beach: Four killed after 4WD rolls

Sunday, 13 September 2015

Emergency services raced the tide and fading light to recover the bodies of four men and evidence from the scene of a quadruple fatality crash on Auckland's Muriwai beach.

The men died after the 4WD they were travelling in rolled at 4.50pm on Sunday, about two kilometres north of the southern end of the beach. 

Police have clarified that all four of the deceased were young men and did not include a 12-year-old boy as originally reported by witnesses.

Police Inspector Mark Fergus said the process of locating and informing next of kin was underway. Names of the deceased were expected to be released on Monday afternoon.

'We've got a lot of work to do to try and locate the families of these four young men,' he said.

'We've recovered as much as we can from the beach but the tide is well in now and we're unable to do anything more at the crash scene.'

Fergus said earlier it was not known how the victims knew each other, or where they were from.

It was too early to say what had caused the crash and police could not confirm earlier reports the 4WD had hit a log, he said.

Police had to work quickly to recover evidence from the scene before the tide came in, including the bodies and the Mitsubishi Pajero.

Emergency services were initially alerted to the crash by a passerby, who tried to give first aid to the victims until police, ambulance and helicopter crews arrived.

One woman, who was at Muriwai beach on Sunday afternoon, said she saw the young men in the car about 4.45pm.

The 4WD vehicle passed her and her partner at 'quite high speed', she said.

The men in the vehicle gave the woman and her partner a 'friendly wave' when they passed the couple, she said.

Further down the beach she saw the car pull off into the dunes.

She continued down the beach and did not witness the accident, she said.

The woman said a friend of hers saw the aftermath of the crash and said there were tyre marks for about 200 metres down the beach.

They estimated the vehicle must have rolled seven or eight times.

Fergus said police did not yet know whether speed was a factor or whether the four were wearing seatbelts.

However, it was important for people to keep their speed down while driving in the beach, he said.

'What I do know, as we're approaching summer, driving in the beach is a dangerous exercise and brings with it certain risks. It's important that people keep their speed down when they're driving on the beach because conditions can change at any time.'

Speed was the 'greatest determinant' of how serious any injuries were in a crash, Fergus said.

'Keeping speed down in the beach will keep everyone safe this summer.'

'PRETTY DESOLATE'

Stuff visual journalist Peter Meecham said the crash scene, about 5km up the beach from the vehicle entry, was 'pretty desolate, pretty grim'.

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'It was quite a wee way out in the surf,' Meecham said.

A tractor was used to drag the vehicle up the beach as the water attempted to swallow it.

Meecham said it was an isolated location. It was so far down the beach it could not be seen from the vehicle entrance beyond the northern end of Muriwai Golf Club.

'When I was there they removed at least one body,' he said.

Locals spoken to at Muriwai Beach said they heard the sirens and knew about the crash but did not know the dead people.

**READ MORE:

* [Man in critical condition after beach buggy rolls

*](http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/68225205/Man-in-critical-condition-after-beach-buggy-rolls) Drivers flouting the law at Muriwai Beach for years**

Past president of the Auckland Four Wheel Drive Club Peter Vahry said the area was popular with drivers but there had been accidents there in the past.

Vehicles entered from near where a stream met the beach.

He said conditions were 'quite normal' but he said you could make 'terrible mistakes' on sand.

Swerving to avoid objects could lead to a wheel digging in and causing a vehicle to roll, he said. 

Auckland Council's website said the speed limit around the Coast Road entrance was 30km/h though it changed to 60km/h north of Okiritoto Stream.  

Vahry said Auckland Council had recently instituted a permit system for driving on the beach.

In May, two men were injured, one critically after their beach buggy rolled at South Head, just north of Muriwai Beach.

During the same month, a multi-agency operation was held to enforce the land Transport Act on Muriwai Beach and Te Oneone Rangatira Beach which extends north and surrounding roads.

The major police crackdown revealed some drivers had a long history of flouting the law.

More than 100 vehicles were stopped for a range of offences, including trespassing, driving in sand dunes and breaking the speed limit.