A neighbour over the road, who did not want to be named, said he heard a loud bang outside his house about 12.25am this morning.
When he went outside, there was already a body on the road.
One of the cars veered into a property along Te Rapa Rd. Photo / Tom Eley
The man and his wife had lived in the area for 10 years and this was the first serious accident of this nature, he said.
According to his wife, the crash was not cleared until 3am and they have had very little sleep since.
The immediate next door neighbour said he was woken up by the neighbours already on the road.
He was pretty sure there were casualties, he said.
Hato Hone St John said it was alerted to the incident at 12.28am and sent two ambulances, one rapid response unit and an operations manager to respond.
Two fire trucks were also sent to assist, remaining on the scene for approximately 40 minutes, Fire and Emergency shift manager Josh Pennefather said.
Earlier, police said they were unable to confirm any information regarding injuries to those involved, with the public urged to avoid the area and expect delays.
An investigation into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.