Holiday road toll rises to five after person dies in crash near Rotorua

Sunday, 24 December 2017

A woman has died in a car crash on State Highway 5 near Rotorua.

Emergency services were called to the scene at 9.16pm on Sunday at the Mamaku turn-off, where three vehicles were involved in an incident.

Rotorua Fire Brigade station officer Tony Kelly said the woman, who was driving one of the cars, was dead at the scene.

'There were three trapped when we arrived,' Kelly said. 

READ MORE: Road toll hits four on day two of the Christmas holiday period

The driver and passenger in the second car involved have serious injuries, and the driver of the third car involved has minor injuries. All three were taken to Rotorua Hospital.

The crash brings the holiday road toll, which started at 4pm on December 22, to five. A person also died in a motorbike crash on private property Buller. As it was not on a public road, the death did not count towards the holiday toll.

*An earlier version of this story said the crash was in Hamurana.