WARNING: This article contains graphic content

A man who came across the scene of a fatal, three-vehicle crash on the Waikato Expressway has described the carnage and confusion in the “horrific” aftermath.

One person died in the crash near Pōkeno just before 7pm yesterday.

Two other people were injured – one critically and one moderately.

Te Kauwhata local Michael told Waikato Herald he was on his way home when he came across three “wrecked cars” with no emergency services on site.

He said the damage to all cars looked “significant”.

“When you see three cars totalled like that, you’re expecting a lot of deaths.”

Michael said he stopped to help and first approached the vehicle that looked “completely totalled and was facing the wrong way”.

The doors were jammed shut, and he could see a person inside “covered in blood”.

Michael said he checked the other two vehicles and found one driver “showing signs of life”, while the other “seemed okay”, before returning to the first car.

About five bystanders, including him, tried to force the doors open, but they wouldn’t budge easily. They eventually removed the person from the car.

Emergency services arrived about 10 to 15 minutes after Michael was on the scene.

Being a father, Michael was “relieved” there were no kids involved.

“It was a horrific sight.”

According to Waikato mother, Hayley, a vehicle was travelling the wrong way down the motorway before the crash.

She told the Herald she was driving with her son on SH1 near Mercer and narrowly avoided a head-on crash with a car on the wrong side of the motorway.

“There were two cars in front of me and a truck, and we all had to swerve out of the way,” she said.

“Suddenly there were headlights right in front of me, it was terrifying.”

Hayley said the car was weaving through lanes at speed – “definitely over 110km/h”.

A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said two patients were treated at the scene, with one person with critical injuries airlifted to Auckland City Hospital.

Another patient was taken to Waikato Hospital in a moderate condition.

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.