One missing after car crashes off bridge
One missing after car crashes off bridge
Five
people, including a police officer, are in hospital, and one
person is
unaccounted for after a serious crash in
Tauranga this evening.
The crash occurred on the
Mangatapu Causeway Bridge at approximately 6.10pm
this
evening. Three vehicles were involved in the crash which
resulted in one
vehicle going off the bridge and into
the water.
A male passenger in his 20s managed to get out
of the submerged vehicle. A
male police constable jumped
into the water to assist him. The pair drifted
some
distance and eventually managed to get ashore. They have
been taken to
Tauranga Hospital and both are suffering
from hypothermia.
A man and a woman in their 30s, and a
man in his 40s, were in the two
vehicles that remained
on the bridge and they have been taken to hospital
with
moderate injuries.
The driver of the submerged vehicle is
still unaccounted for and the Police
National Dive Team
has been contacted and will be travelling to Tauranga to
assist.
The bridge will remain closed overnight and
at least for part of tomorrow.
Diversions are in place.
ends