Police have named the four men killed when a four-wheel drive vehicle crashed near Putorino in Hawke's Bay.
They were Jack Huata, 64, and Paul Thomas Parata (known as Boydie), 48, both of Raupunga, and Lou Phillip Wesley, 47 and James Raupita, 42, both of Waihua.
The men lay undiscovered for more than seven hours before locals found them.
When volunteer firefighter Gary Mackintosh, 52, reached the mangled wreckage of the Mitsubishi Pajero, he realised two of the dead were his life-long friends Huata and Parata.
Mackintosh took some comfort from the four bodies looking "quite peaceful".
"It wasn't gruesome or anything like that. There were no horrific injuries."
Headlights from the wreck had been seen by dairy farmer Dianne Torr as she drove through the area at 7.30am yesterday. She raised the alarm.
Police told Mackintosh that the men had probably been dead since about midnight.
The crash contributed to yesterday's rising holiday road toll.
Wreckage from their vehicle was strewn throughout the paddock and only discovered yesterday morning by a passing motorist.
All four occupants were seen drinking at a local hotel earlier in the night.
Police today identified the deceased as Lou Phillip Wesley, 47, and James Raupita, 42, of Waihua and Jack Huata, 64, and Paul Thomas "Boydie" Parata, 48, of Raupunga. All four lived in the area and worked as farmhands.
Napier mayor Barbara Arnott has described the accident as a “double tragedy” - the group had been working at Moengiangi Station, the same sheep station where four people had been working before a head-on crash claimed their lives near Mohaka in January.
Police used the accident as a reminder about driving to the weather conditions, avoiding drink driving and wearing seatbelts – all three factors believed to have contributed to the tragedy.
Three of the four dead men were found outside the vehicle, suggesting they were not restrained.
A 19-year-old man died after being hit by a car in the Christchurch suburb of Lincoln at 2.10am yesterday, while a man in his 20s was killed and three others injured after a vehicle struck a power pole in Stratford on Saturday evening.
Witnesses described the Stratford accident as “horrific”, claiming the car rolled before hitting the pole, leaving one person trapped inside while another was trapped under the vehicle.
The Queen's Birthday weekend holiday road toll officially stands at seven. Police had hoped for a repeat of last year, in which there was only one casualty.
They were Jack Huata, 64, and Paul Thomas Parata (known as Boydie), 48, both of Raupunga, and Lou Phillip Wesley, 47 and James Raupita, 42, both of Waihua.
The men lay undiscovered for more than seven hours before locals found them.
When volunteer firefighter Gary Mackintosh, 52, reached the mangled wreckage of the Mitsubishi Pajero, he realised two of the dead were his life-long friends Huata and Parata.
Mackintosh took some comfort from the four bodies looking "quite peaceful".
"It wasn't gruesome or anything like that. There were no horrific injuries."
Headlights from the wreck had been seen by dairy farmer Dianne Torr as she drove through the area at 7.30am yesterday. She raised the alarm.
Police told Mackintosh that the men had probably been dead since about midnight.
The crash contributed to yesterday's rising holiday road toll.
Wreckage from their vehicle was strewn throughout the paddock and only discovered yesterday morning by a passing motorist.
All four occupants were seen drinking at a local hotel earlier in the night.
Police today identified the deceased as Lou Phillip Wesley, 47, and James Raupita, 42, of Waihua and Jack Huata, 64, and Paul Thomas "Boydie" Parata, 48, of Raupunga. All four lived in the area and worked as farmhands.
Napier mayor Barbara Arnott has described the accident as a “double tragedy” - the group had been working at Moengiangi Station, the same sheep station where four people had been working before a head-on crash claimed their lives near Mohaka in January.
Police used the accident as a reminder about driving to the weather conditions, avoiding drink driving and wearing seatbelts – all three factors believed to have contributed to the tragedy.
Three of the four dead men were found outside the vehicle, suggesting they were not restrained.
A 19-year-old man died after being hit by a car in the Christchurch suburb of Lincoln at 2.10am yesterday, while a man in his 20s was killed and three others injured after a vehicle struck a power pole in Stratford on Saturday evening.
Witnesses described the Stratford accident as “horrific”, claiming the car rolled before hitting the pole, leaving one person trapped inside while another was trapped under the vehicle.
The Queen's Birthday weekend holiday road toll officially stands at seven. Police had hoped for a repeat of last year, in which there was only one casualty.
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