Two people have died and another person is in a critical condition after a vehicle hit a tree in Ahipara in the Far North.
Police said the vehicle hit a tree on Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd shortly before midnight.
Two of the vehicle's occupants died at the scene and a third was taken to hospital.
The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.
The latest deaths bring the provisional road toll for the Christmas/New Year holiday period to 18, the highest in four years.
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