Car drives off south Auckland cliff

Two people are in critical condition after a car plunged 30-odd metres from the road to the beach.

The car went over a cliff along Orere Matingarahi Rd, about 70km south-east of Auckland near Orere Point.

Ambulance Northern Communications spokesman Brett Tobeck said the car had plunged about 30 metres from the road landing on the beach.

Both of the car's occupants were in critical condition and emergency workers were preparing to transport them to hospital, with at least one likely to be taken by helicopter.

It took rescuers 30 minutes to reach the accident scene because of its remote location, with firefighters arriving from Kawakawa Bay and ambulance workers from Pukekohe, Papakura and Manukau, Mr Tobeck said.

"Access is not easy," he said.

One of the occupants had managed to get out of the car on their own while the other had to be freed by emergency workers. No information was available on the occupants’ ages or whether they were male or female, Mr Tobeck said.

Fire brigade volunteers, first on the scene, had cleared space for a medical helicopter to land, fire shift manager Megan Ruru said.

- © Fairfax NZ News