Police have closed Riverside Drive while emergency services respond. (file photo) Photo:
One person has died after being trapped inside a car for several hours when it crashed into a New Plymouth home.
Police said they received a report of a vehicle crashing into a house on Riverside Drive in Merrilands about 9.15am.
Fire and Emergency had earlier said the single occupant of the car had been rescued and no one else was injured. However, someone inside the house was taken to Taranaki Base Hospital with moderate injuries.
The driver, who had been trapped underneath the house, died.
Fire and Emergency say it took several hours to pull the car out with a fire truck due to the position of the car.
It confirmed power lines were knocked down during the crash and power was off in the area.
A spokesperson said the fallen lines also made it difficult for them to get to the driver.
St John said it sent three ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, and an operations manager to the scene.
A police spokesperson said the road has been closed while emergency services respond.
"Motorists are to avoid the area if possible and expect delays."
New Plymouth District councillor for the Kaitake-Ngāmotu ward, Bryan Vickery, said the crash was devastating.
"You couldn't think of anything more sad, and disconnected and surreal," he said.
"It's Christmas Eve ... it's all about whānau and family and preparing for the special day, and to have a tragedy in a suburban area like that, it's just very, very, very sad."
Riversdale Drive is a curved suburban street - not somewhere a crash would be expected, he said.
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