New Zealand / Bay Of Plenty

Easter road toll climbs to four after Bay of Plenty fatality

13:56 pm on 3 April 2021

The Easter weekend road toll has risen to four, with another crash in the Bay of Plenty.

Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin

A motorbike and a car collided on State Highway 38 at Waimangu at around 11am today, killing one person and injuring another.

The road is closed while a scene examination takes place.

There have now been three crashes in the Bay of Plenty this weekend, two of them fatal.

A two-vehicle crash in Whakamaru at about midday on Good Friday claimed the life of the driver and set a vehicle on fire.

The crash occurred at the intersection of State Highways 30 and 32.

In Waikato a person died and three others suffered moderate injuries when a truck and car collided in Kaihere at about 8pm on Thursday night.

An hour and a half later, a person was killed in a crash on State Highway 2 at Mangatāwhiri, north of Hamilton.

The official Easter holiday period began at 4pm on Thursday and ends at 6am on Tuesday. There were no deaths on the roads during the Easter period last year.