One person is dead and three people are critically and seriously injured as emergency services deal with two serious truck crashes in the North Island this morning.
A stretch of State Highway 29 in the Waikato remains closed after a car carrying three people were trapped when they collided with a fully-laden logging truck.
A person a died at the scene and two others were critically and seriously injured.
In a Northland a woman was also seriously injured when a car when she collided with a concrete mixer south of Whangarei.
Fire Service shift manager Jaron Phillips said firefighters had to use the cutting equipment to free those travelling in cars in both accident scenes.
The Waikato crash claimed the life of one person after a car collided with a logging truck at 9.45am near Hopkins Rd, near Matamata.
Mr Phillips said all were trapped in the car and had to wait for emergency services to be freed.
St John Ambulance said four people were taken to Waikato Hospital.
One patient had died, one was critical, one was serious and one was in a moderate condition.
The New Zealand Transport Agency said the road would be closed for several hours following today’s crash.
Motorists were being diverted through Tirau.
A Police Serious Crash Unit was now investigating the cause of the accident.
The second crash occurred just outside Whangarei at Otaika between a car and a concrete truck.
Mr Phillips said a person was trapped in the car and was cut free by firefighters using rescue equipment.
The trapped driver was taken to hospital in a serious condition, he said.
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