Photo: ST JOHN NZ
Labour Weekend has begun with a bad start on the roads.
On Saturday one person died in Waikato on State Highway 26, and one in Waipapa in Northland as a result of crashes. And police said crashes also blocked roads or caused serious injuries at Drury, Wellsford, and in the Hamilton suburb of Frankton.
Just before 5:30pm on Saturday evening, police were called to a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 26, between Te Aroha and Paeroa.
One person died at the scene, and inquiries into the crash were ongoing, police said.
In Northland, a person died after being hit by a vehicle at about 3:35am in the town of Waipapa, on Onekura Road.
Also in the early hours of Saturday, two people were critically injured in a crash in Kells Place, Frankton, in Hamilton, which happened about 1:10am.
And just after midday on Saturday afternoon, a collision on State Highway One forced the closure of the Northbound lanes at Wellsford.
And a crash blocked a northbound lane at Drury, south of Auckland, just before 3pm.
There was no information immediately available about injuries.
Off the roads, police said the sole occupant of a light aircraft died after a crash in Blenheim, at the Omaka Aerodrome, just before 1:20pm on Saturday.
Friday
On Saturday morning, police said a motorcyclist had died in hospital following a crash with a car on State Highway 1 in Taihape on Friday.
The crash was reported to police at 3:40pm, just before the official long weekend holiday road toll began at 4pm Friday.
Also on Friday, two people died in separate crashes just hours before the road toll started.
One person was killed in a two-vehicle collision in Whanganui at about 1.30pm Friday, and a person died in a crash involving several vehicles at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Shoemaker Road, at Waipu in Northland, at about 1.55pm on Friday.
And, at the Bay of Islands, a person has died after they were knocked unconscious on a yacht while racing in the Coastal Classic.
Five people died during Labour Weekend last year.