A Google maps screenshot showing the closure of State Highway 1 south of Taihape. Photo: Google Maps/Screenshot
Three motorcyclists are dead and two other people have been critically injured after a crash involving four motorbikes in the central North Island.
Police were called shortly after 8am to Utiku, south of Taihape, after four motorbikes and another vehicle crashed on Saturday.
Police confirmed all the fatalities were on the motorcycles.
The section of SH1 has now reopened.
A St John Ambulance spokesperson said two people had been airlifted to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition.
The vehicle involved with the crash was a ute, a Fire and Emergency spokesperson confirmed.
The male driver of the ute had been trapped and fire crews used cutting equipment to get him out, the spokesperson said.
The man was one of two people flown by helicopter to Wellington hospital in a critical condition.
Crews from four local stations attended the accident.
