After a vehicle collided with a truck on New Zealand’s South Island, a baby was among seven people murdered in one of the bloodiest crashes in two decades.
At 7.30 a.m. on Sunday, a small van carrying nine people crossed the center line before colliding head-on with a refrigerated goods truck on State Highway 1 between Blenheim and Picton on the north coast.
Inspector Paul Borrell, the Tasman District commander, described the scene as “total carnage.”
‘It’s simply utterly sad how seven lives are lost in the blink of an eye,’ he said.
‘[It’s] a reminder for every single one of us, in a blink of an eye seven lives are gone.’
The truck driver received minor injuries, but two of the van’s surviving passengers sustained critical and serious injuries and were flown to the hospital by helicopter.
Inspector Simon Feltham, Marlborough Area Commander, said first responders would be offered counselling to help them cope with the stress.
‘One of our staff members, it was their third day working out of police college,’ he said. ‘It’s a horrific thing to have to deal with.’
Inspector Borrell extended his condolences to the family who had lost loved ones.
‘Any death on our roads is a tragedy, let alone multiple fatalities in one crash,’ he said.
‘A crash of this scale has a huge impact on both the community where it happens, that of the deceased’s family and community, and on emergency services who attend.’
Wayne Wytenburg, chief fire officer of the Picton Volunteer Fire Brigade, said he was speechless.
‘Today we attended a most horrific vehicle accident with other emergency services,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘I’m lost for words to describe what our emergency services had to deal with. Our thoughts go out to the families.’
Koromiko resident Trish Rawlings described hearing loud bangs on the road outside her property at the time of the accident.
‘Then I heard a siren, so I went down to the gate to have a look,’ she told Stuff.
‘There were emergency vehicles there by then, helicopters, they got there quick. It must have been within 10 minutes of the crash.’
The crash occurred on a ‘bit of a corner,’ according to Ms Rawlings.
She went for a walk to clear her mind after being confronted by the spectacle.
‘Reality hits after a while and you think, ‘Oh my God, seven people have died not far from where we live’, she told the New Zealand Herald.
‘It’s really horrible.’
Rick Rawlings said there had been two other serious crashes at that site in recent years as the corner features a deceptive curve in the road.
‘It’s a very narrow part of State Highway 1; It starts off in Picton, and by the time it gets here the vehicles have [sped] up from Picton quite well, and then they have to negotiate a corner which doesn’t really show up all that well – I know – I live right on it,’ he told RNZ.
‘Put some signs up, but widen the road. I think actually – right the way through the Koromiko Valley there are a few overtaking spots – but I think the speed needs to be dropped. 100kmh is too fast for some of these roads.’