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Regional | Crash

Ngaruawahia boy's body to arrive at Turangawaewae Marae

The friends of 11-year-old Nikau Tamati await his body's arrival at Tūrangawaewae Marae. The Ngaruawahia community is in mourning following his death yesterday after the vehicle he was travelling in collided with a tree on Friday night.  He and six others were travelling in a Toyota Wish when it crashed on Durham Street.

Nikau was one of seven children aged between nine and 15-years-old who were the occupants of a vehicle that collided with a tree on Ngāruawāhia's Durham Street on Friday night.

The community remained tight-lipped today and no one would appear on camera, however, one member of the community did tell Te Kāea that the four families involved who are all related, were devastated.

Police could not provide an update today but sources close to the whānau told Te Kāea the driver at the time was understood to be Nikau's 14-year old cousin, so if charges were to be laid it is likely to be through the Youth Court.

The six surviving car occupants remain in Waikato Hospital. The youngest in a coma in ICU and the eldest in the HDU. Four were in a stable condition. 
Nikau's funeral is expected to go ahead early this week.