Photo: RNZ / Patrice Allen
Four seasonal workers from Tonga are in a stable conditon after spending the night in hospital, when the bus taking them to their jobs in Hawke's Bay crashed near Rotorua.
Twelve people were injured in the crash on Sunday morning. They were part of a group of 30 seasonal workers bound for apple thinning work in the Mr Apple orchard in Hawke's Bay.
By Monday, four of the injured were still in hospital and in a stable condition
It was the second serious crash in the past three months involving seasonal workers.
In August, three Samoan seasonal workers were killed on Auckland's State Highway 1 when a truck blew a tyre and collided with three other vehicles.
'It could have been a lot worse'
RSE workers' liaison Sefita Hao'uli said the four injured workers were lucky to be alive as the crash happened on a stretch of road that did not have a cliff or a river below it.
"It was fortunate at that early hour there wasn't much traffic at all, and it happened on the road rather than the bus coming off the road and rolling off the sides.
"It could have been a lot worse, but we are grateful there were no fatalities... we've learnt a lot from this," he said.
Many of the workers were not wearing seatbelts, but he said there had been an immediate change in policy and all RSE workers on all buses now had to wear a seatbelt at all times.
"There would have been less injuries if everybody was belted up," he said.
Hao'uli said there are 140 more RSE workers flying into Auckland this weekend.
"I think it will involve about three buses, and we wil make sure those vehicles are fully belted. They will be wearing seatbelts or the bus is not going to move," said Hao'uli.
He said they were also considering using bus drivers chartered from Auckland rather than Hawke's Bay, so the drivers did not have to make such a long round trip from Hastings.
Seasonal workers involved in serious bus crash
Mr Apple spokesperson Gary Jones told Morning Report the company was notified of the "tragedy" early on Sunday.
The injured people had been taken to three different hospitals, and a Tongan liaison officer was dispatched with orchard staff to help on the ground, he said.
Most of the seasonal workers had arrived in Hawke's Bay by Sunday night, and the company was putting as much support as possible around the RSE workers.
Mr Apple employed about 1200 seasonal workers each year, and Tongan workers stayed with the company for five years on average, Jones said.
"We're very well-connected in Hawke's Bay with our church communities - faith is very important for this group."
The company would also be providing counsellors for those affected by the crash.
"We'll just be taking things slowly with the workers and just assessing what they want to make sure that we put the community arms around them and look after them as best we can."
The workers had been due to start apple thinning this week but the company would be discussing next steps with them following the accident, and "treading very carefully in that space".
Jones was not able to provide any more details on the accident.
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