Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker is calling for patience on the region's roads as the community is left in shock by a crash yesterday that killed three people, including a high school student, on State Highway 2.
Walker told 1 NEWS the community felt the tragedy personally due to the small population size and the fact that many community volunteers were first on the scene to the accident, south of the small settlement of Takapau.
Silver Fern Farms confirmed the three occupants of the vehicle, which collided with a truck, were their employees.
"Silver Fern Farms is very saddened to confirm that employees were involved in the road accident near Takapau. Our thoughts are with their families and our team at Takapau. We are supporting them through this tragic incident."
Dannevirke High School confirmed those who died were "current and past pupils". NZME reports one was a current student while the other two had left the school.
"Our school whānau are devastated with the loss of our students," the school wrote on Facebook today.
"Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the whānau and our wider community."
Walker said the long, straight stretch of road was “notorious” but she wasn’t sure if the road could be fixed.
She said people needed to slow down, respect the road and be patient as it is often busy with freight trucks, carrying logs and goods to the Napier Port, which travel at slower speeds.
After a tough year, she doesn’t want any more fatalities in the community so close to Christmas time, she said.
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