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Mark Taylor/Waikato Times
Two people have died in a car crash at Rodda Rd, Rangiriri.
Three people have died and two are in a critical condition after two separate crashes in Waikato, while a section of State Highway 1 has been closed by a chemical spill.
The second crash on Monday involved two vehicles in Rangiriri – a rural community about 20 kilometres north of Huntly.
It left two dead and two others with life-threatening injuries.
A separate crash between a car and a tanker carrying a hazardous substance in Tīrau, southeast of Hamilton, also killed one person.
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RANGIRIRI CRASH
The second crash happened in Rodda Rd in Rangiriri, which runs parallel to State Highway 1, the Waikato Expressway, about 4.10pm on Monday.
Diversions were put in place as police examined the scene. The road was likely to remain closed for some time.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Josh Pennefather said three people were trapped and firefighters had to pull them out using rescue tools.
A spokesperson for the nearby Rangiriri Hotel said she believed it involved a ute with a trailer and another vehicle.
Rodda Rd was a back road which locals used to get to the community of Te Kauwhata, just south of Rangiriri, she said, adding the road was not used by those from out of town much.
“Quite a few” residents had come to the hotel on Monday night talking about the crash, she said.
Te Kauwhata resident Gavin Wolfe said a lot of people now used Rodda Rd, the back road, to avoid the northbound traffic jam caused by roadworks at Hampton Downs, north of Rangiriri.
People get off SH1 at the Te Kauwhata off-ramp, and take Rodda Rd and Whangamarino Rd to the Hampton Downs on-ramp and “miss the big queues, especially at the end of the weekend when traffic is heavy heading back to Auckland”, Wolfe said.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Police were called to two serious crashes in the Waikato region on Monday. (File photo)
Navigation apps also suggest people take that route when congestion was bad at the roadworks, Wolfe said.
A woman who grew up in the area and travels on Rodda Rd about four times a week, who asked not to be named, said it was “bloody scary” people were driving on Rodda Rd at “huge speeds”, and it was making people rethink riding their horses and cycles in the area.
TĪRAU CRASH
Meanwhile, another crash, on State Highway 1 in Tīrau about 3pm on Monday, killed one person.
It has also caused the closure of the road for the night, Waka Kotahi NZTA said. Drivers should avoid the area.
Fire and Emergency’s Pennefather said the crash involved a tanker carrying about 25 tonnes of hydrogen peroxide.
“The tanker has rolled and the hydrogen peroxide is leaking”, he said about 7.20pm on Monday.
Fire and Emergency were still at the scene as of 7.20pm on Monday, he said.
If any members of the public felt unwell, they should call Healthline, Pennefather said.
The closure of SH1 would remain in place overnight Monday between State Highway 5 and State Highway 28.
Northbound traffic could detour via SH28, then on to SH5 and SH1, while those travelling southbound could travel in the reverse direction.
Bronwyn McGovern lives near the Tīrau crash site and said there were “always” crashes in the area.
She earlier heard “a lot of emergency services” headed towards the site but could not see the scene itself as she lived about half a kilometre away.
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