August 18, 2018
A man who died in Muriwai earlier today was crushed by a car he was trying to push after it had become stuck down a private driveway.
Two people, both occupants of the car, were injured after it rolled on top of one of them into a bank in West Auckland while another was still inside.
Emergency services attended the single-vehicle incident on Oaia Rd in Muriwai around 1pm.
Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter (ARHT) transported a man in his 60s with a severely broken leg to Auckland City Hospital.
ARHT crewman and co-pilot Aaron Knight said when he received the detail for the callout he assumed it had been a high-speed crash since one person was reported out of the vehicle.
But the vehicle was almost stationary when the incident happened.
"By the sounds of it a family in the area were a bit lost.
"They went down a private driveway with several sections, they have become stuck after going to turn around."
After it had become stuck two of the three occupants got out of the car to push it.
"Two of the occupants pushed the vehicle. It pulled back and rolled on top of them.
"One was found with a severely injured leg, the other occupant was found to be deceased at the scene."
Screams had alerted neighbours in the area, he said.
"They managed to flip the car over and they managed to lift the vehicle off the people."
By the time the helicopter had arrived the car had been flipped over and was by a fence, he said.
It was the first he had heard of anything like this, Knight said.
"Vehicles roll over but it's normally from losing control and all occupants are inside of the vehicle.
"The only other things like this would be a tractor rolling on a farm."
The terrain of the driveway was reasonably steep and the car was intact apart from broken windows and a few minor dents.
