A person has been transported to hospital with critical injuries following a car fire in Taranaki this morning.
Emergency services were advised at 7.20am that a car was on fire on State Highway 3 (Mokau Road), between Mimi Road and Waiiti Road.
A person in the car sustained serious burns and has been airlifted to Waikato Hospital.
At this stage it is not clear how the car fire started.
Police would like to hear from anyone who was travelling in the area this morning and may have information which could assist our enquiries.
If you can help, please get in touch via 105 and quote event number P053073011.
The road will remain closed for some time and motorists are asked to delay travel or take alternative routes where possible.
Police update at 1.56pm
A person critically injured in a car fire in Taranaki this morning has passed away in hospital.
Emergency services were alerted to the car fire on State Highway 3 (Mokau Road) at 7.20am today.
A person with serious burns was airlifted to Waikato Hospital but sadly died a short time ago.
Enquiries are ongoing to establish how the car fire started.
Here’s a guess. It was an electric car.
The biggest danger of EVs are their weight you never want to be in a collision with one not only the risk of fire but you will feel as though you have been hit with a sledge hammer. A Tesla 3 for instance weighs 1850 kg empty.