NZ car crash kills three of Tongan family [1]
Monday, May 11, 2015 - 22:07
A 71-year-old mother Tevunga Vaea, her daughter and daughter-in-law, died in a tragic car crash on Saturday night 9 May, in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
The New Zealand Herald reported that Tevunga, her daughter Louina (45) and daughter-in-law Takua Vaea (32) died when the minivan they were in collided with a car, on State Highway 2 between Whakamarama and Te Puna.
The three victims were travelling in the van to Tauranga with six other relatives.
Maloni Vaea, Tevunga's son told the Herald they were going to Tauranga for Mother’s Day because one of his brothers lives there.
The other relatives in the van which included two girls age 2 and 15, two women age 20 and 57 and two men aged 29 and 41 have been treated and discharged from Tauranga Hospital.
Meanwhile, a passenger of the car 35-year-old Sam O’Brien who was travelling in his 20-year-niece’s car said they had pulled over to the left of SH2 before trying to cross the road to enter his driveway on the other side.
The car and minivan both travelling east then collided and caught on fire.
O’Brien said he managed to get his niece out of the car. She was reported to be in a stable condition at the hospital on Sunday, 10 May.
Tevunga, who came from Kanokupolu in Tongatapu, lived at Onehunga in Auckland.