Skid marks and road markings at the site of a crash which happened on Saturday on Shakespeare Rd, Bluff Hill in Napier. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
Police in Napier say they tried to get a vehicle to stop just minutes before it crashed, killing a young woman.
The crash has also left many young people injured.
Police say just before 11.50pm on Saturday night, a dark blue Honda SUV was driving erratically in the Napier CBD.
It failed to stop on Tennyson St when signalled to do so.
The vehicle fled and officers lost sight of it almost immediately after it turned around the corner into Hastings St.
Police chose not to pursue the vehicle and officers turned off their red and blue lights and pulled over.
The fleeing vehicle was found crashed a short time later, on Shakespeare Rd, around the corner and up the hill from Hastings St.
The car was carrying nine people. One young woman died in the crash, while seven people were taken to hospital with injures and another left uninjured.
Hato Hone St John said they took four of those to hospital - three critically injured and one moderately injured.
A Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said as of Monday, three people still remained at Hawke's' Bay Hospital in Hastings.
Two women, one aged in her 20s and another in her teens, were in serious but stable conditions.
A man in his 20s is in a stable condition.
Yesterday, a man in his teens was transferred to Wellington Hospital and woman in her 20s was taken to Christchurch.
Police are asking to hear from anyone who witnessed the Honda SUV driving erratically in the Napier CBD before the crash.
They are also asking for dashcam footage, or any other video of the vehicle.
Information can be provided via the 105 phone number or online, referencing the file number 221030/4150.
It can also be given anonymously via Crime Stoppers.
