Four older friends among those killed in tragic Taranaki crash which claimed seven lives

June 28, 2018

The head-on crash in south Taranaki has ripped apart the lives of many people.

Four older friends were killed in the tragic Taranaki crash that claimed the lives of seven people yesterday.

Six people died at the scene after two cars collided on State Highway 3 near the racecourse at Waverley about 11am - another has since died in hospital.

The four friends, Ian and Rosalie Porteous, Ora Keene and Brenda Williams, were travelling in one vehicle and all died at the scene of the crash.

The granddaughter of Ian and Rosalie Porteous - Tristie Siffleet - has paid tribute to them.

Ms Siffleet's full statement provided to 1 NEWS reads:

We are absolutely devastated. We are a very close family and still can’t believe this has happened. Ian and Rosalie have been married for 54 years. They are extremely loving family people.

Rosalie was great with social media and used this to keep up with what all the family was doing. She would always make beautiful handmade birthday cards for the family with her impressive Photoshop skills.

Ian had an awesome cheeky sense of humour and was extremely proud of all his grandchildren and was often found on the side line at their sports events.

We are so grateful that we were all together and able to celebrate a birthday only last weekend and were able to get a few photos which we will cherish.

They have three sons, all of who are distraught and two are currently on their way over from Australia with their families. With their two sons being in Australia, everyone would all meet on skype with Ian and Rosalie every Sunday evening.

They were very close with Ian's sister Ora who lived close by in Waverley, who was also in the vehicle. They loved living and being a part of the Waverley community.

Our love and thoughts go out to all the families involved in this tragedy. We would like to thank all the emergency services involved in the accident for all their help.

Waverley chief fire officer Allan Hickford said the scene of the crash was shocking to many of the emergency services personnel who attended.

"We don't often see things like that - to some it was new, to some of us guys that have been here a long time, we've seen it before," he said.

A Givealittle page has also been set up to help pay for the funeral of eight-year-old Nivek Madams, who died this morning in Waikato Hospital after the tragic crash.

The funds will pay for all costs associated with Nivek's funeral and headstone.

Nivek was in the backseat of the car that crashed head-on with another in Waverley, also claiming the lives of her five-month-old baby sister and stepfather.

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