Two people are dead after a head-on crash between a car and a van on State Highway 50 on the Napier Hastings motorway.
Shortly before 2am, a van and a car collided on a bridge about 1km south of the intersection of State Highway 50 and Meeanee Road, Inspector Paul Jermy, of Central Communications, said today.
"It appears the car involved in the crash contained two occupants, whilst the van contained at least seven people.
"Three of the van occupants were thrown over the bridge and into a river about 15 metres below."
Two of those thrown over the bridge died at the scene, while a third made it to shore and was taken to hospital, Mr Jermy said.
He said some of the seven taken to hospital had serious injuries.
It is not known how many passengers were in the van at the time of the crash.
Police were conducting foot patrols as well as using a dog handler and a helicopter to search the river and its banks for any people unaccounted for, Mr Jermy said.
The road was expected to be closed for some time while the police serious crash unit conducted a scene examination.
