Bus crash in Auckland kills one

An 86-year-old man is dead after a bus skidded around a corner and hit a taxi, before smashing into a tree in a suburban South Auckland street.

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Emergency services were called to Hill Rd, Manurewa where the Howick and Eastern bus crashed into a tree, injuring at least four people, about 3pm yesterday, police said.

The 86-year-old man, who was a passenger on the bus, later died in hospital.

Residents said a boy suffered head injuries and a girl suffered leg injuries. Both were passengers on the bus.

The bus driver was seriously injured, the residents said.

The taxi driver was lucky to escape with his life after the bus crashed into the side of his vehicle as it was coming the other way, the residents said.

Had the bus not hit the tree it would have come to a stop in an empty section.

There were skid marks on the road where the bus had come around the corner.

Residents said buses often came around the corner at speed and they were not surprised there had been a crash.

However, the police serious crash unit at the scene said they had not yet come to any conclusions and the driver may have suffered a medical event.

One resident said the corner on which the crash occurred was known as one where vehicles skidded. "It is a bad corner "

She was one of the neighbours who went to the scene soon after the crash - which many said made a massive thumping noise.

"It was strange really. The bus was right across the road. "

Bus company general manager Sheryll Otway said her firm was doing all it could to assist the families of the injured.