One woman is dead and her teenage son is fighting for his life after a head-on crash near Papamoa.

The two-car crash happened in a place known to locals as "Long Swamp" - on a stretch of State Highway 2 between Papamoa and Te Puke.

Police said the woman, who is yet to be named, was travelling around a left-hand bend when she crossed the centre line and crashed into an oncoming van about 4.15pm yesterday afternoon.

Her 14-year-old son was taken to Waikato Hospital in a critical condition.

Another 14-year-old in the car was taken to Tauranga Hospital along with the four occupants of the van, who ranged from four years old to 44.

All of those taken to Tauranga Hospital suffered minor injuries.

Tauranga Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders said the woman had not yet been named as police were still trying to notify next of kin.

Earlier in the day the rescue helicopter transferred an 18-year-old woman from Waikato to Auckland Hospital in critical condition.

The teenager suffered multiple serious injuries in a crash on Whatawhata Rd on Thursday night.

A second woman, aged 19, remains in Waikato Hospital in a critical condition following the same crash while two others - a woman, 41, and a man, 22, remain in a stable condition.

Westpac Waikato Air Ambluance pilot Dan Harcourt was also sent to Glen Afton, near Huntly, to retrieve a 39-year-old man with serious leg lacerations yesterday.

The injuries were the result of a domestic incident involving a glass door.

- © Fairfax NZ News