Ambulance driver dies after crash in Cambridge

7:23 pm on 14 September 2022

Emergency services were called to the site of the crash around 3.40am. File pic Photo:

St John says it is devastated to be grieving the loss of one of its own following a serious crash near Cambridge early this morning.

A Patient Transfer Officer from Rotorua was travelling from Hamilton to Rotorua when they were critically injured in a head on collision.

The driver of the car involved in the crash died at the scene.

The officer was airlifted to Waikato Hospital and died with family by their side this afternoon.

A registered nurse who was travelling as the attendant in the ambulance, was also transported to Waikato Hospital and is in a stable condition.

There were no patients on board the ambulance that was involved in the crash which is being investigated.

St John said the officer was a well-respected and long-serving member of the Hato Hone whānau.

In recognition of their service, they were admitted to the Order of St John as a Member (MStJ) in 2004.

Emergency services were called to the site around 3.40am.

Police said the car crashed into the back of the ambulance on Tirau Road.

Meanwhile, a person has died in an crash on State Highway 3, south of Kihikihi, in Waikato.

The two-vehicle crash happened around 12.30pm, police said.