Rotorua teens in horror crash | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

A truck driver among the first on the scene of a horror crash involving 12 Rotorua teens wouldn't wish the carnage he came across on anyone.

"I'm just glad 12 hearts are still beating," a distressed Greg Thompson told The Daily Post yesterday.

"When you see kids down on the tarseal ... I wouldn't wish it on the bravest truck driver ... I've cried, in the past 24 hours."

Mr Thompson said the crash, which has left a school community in shock, was the worst scene he had seen in 30 years of driving.

The teens, half of whom are from John Paul College, included New Zealand Next Top Model contestant Daisy Sparke. They were returning to Rotorua from a party in Taupo, travelling in a Toyota Hiace van that failed to take a left-hand bend about 2.30am Saturday on State Highway 5, 14km south of Rotorua.

The van crossed the centreline, hit a bank and rolled. The teenagers, who it is believed were not wearing seatbelts, were flung from the van.

Two teenagers are still in critical conditions in the intensive care unit at Waikato Hospital.

Mr Thompson, who is from Tauranga, said the hero of the night was another truck driver from Rotorua who warned him of the crash scene just in time to prevent him from running over a couple of teenagers who were lying on the road.

"If it hadn't been for the logger I think I would've run over a couple of the kids.

"As I came around the corner there was the logging truck facing me.

"He was flashing his headlights, high beam, low beam, and it had just come over the CB saying there was an accident."

Mr Thompson said he and the other driver blocked off the road and went to check on the teenagers.

"We went around the kids and spoke to the kids, made sure all the kids were all right.

"There was no visual signs of heavy bleeding.

"One young lass was lying face down in the dirt on the bank.

"I just dug the dirt from around her face and said 'just keep breathing'. We didn't move any of them.

Mr Thompson said it was raining and the road was wet.

"We went around and spoke to the kids. I did a quick first aid [check], I told them who I was, I said 'hang five, we've got emergency services on the road'.

"One young boy who was walking around was very helpful."

He gave the names of the teenagers and general information such as where they'd come from, how many of the teenagers were in the van.

"I think he was in shock from seeing the carnage," Mr Thompson said.

 Mr Thompson said he reached the scene about 2.50am, only minutes after the other driver.

Mr Thompson was travelling about 80km/h and slowed when he saw the flashing lights.

"If he'd been five minutes later I would've run them over," he said.

"He prevented a bigger carnage. I don't want to take full credit. It was both our efforts."

Mr Thompson said knowing how to do first aid was part of his training as a truck driver and he saw his actions at the crash scene as "just doing my job".

Rotorua police Senior Sergeant Brent Crowe said there was a couch in the van which, coupled with the fact that people seemed to have been thrown some distance from the vehicle, indicated seat belts were not worn.

Police said the quick actions of the two truck drivers might have prevented further carnage.

There was a very real risk of further accidents on the dark, rural stretch of road, which had a 100km/h speed limit, so the truck drivers had done exactly the right thing, Mr Crowe said.

"It's been a team effort between the truck drivers first on the scene and all emergency services and hospital staff."

Police described the scene as being like a "war zone" with the injured teens lying all over the road.

They thought at least one of the occupants, a young woman, was dead when they found her lying face down and unresponsive.

A Rotorua constable checking each person at the scene came across a girl he thought was dead.

"He lifted her up, gave her a smack on the back and she went 'aaargh'," Mr Crowe said.

The girl was face down in moist, mucky and boggy conditions .

"Perhaps his actions might have saved her from her injuries or even from suffocating in the mud," he said.

Waikato District Health Board communications director Mary Anne Gill said two 17-year-old men were still in a critical condition in Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit while two women, aged 16 and 17, were both in a stable condition.

The 16-year-old was transferred from Rotorua Hospital yesterday and was in the high dependency unit while the 17-year-old was in a ward.

Lakes District Health Board communications officer Sue Wilkie said four of the teenagers were still in Rotorua Hospital, all in a stable condition. Three teens were discharged yesterday and a twelfth teenager was treated and discharged on Saturday.

TEENS INJURED IN THE CRASH

• Aaron Gourlay (driver)
• Jesse Howe
• Matthew Temm
• Morris Bryant
• Jakob Zohs
• Callum Duffy
• Jacob Robinson
• Ashley Duncan
• Hope Archer
• Codie McKenzie
• Daisy Sparke
• The name of the twelfth passenger is unknown