Birth after fatal crash

Press, 1 May 1984, Page 1

Birth after fatal crash

PA Hastings The mother of a 17-month-old girl killed in a triple fatality road accident south of Hastings yesterday gave birth to another daughter during surgery at Hastings Hospital late yesterday afternoon. Both the mother, Miriamia Brogden, aged 31, of Watch Road, Waipawa, and her newborn daughter, are in a stable condition. The accident occurred at 11.50 a.m. on State highway 2, when a Mini car carrying five people was in collision with an unloaded sheep truck. The car was travelling north. The truck driver, Desmond Allan Thompson, aged 38, of Waipukurau, was not hurt. Three of the occupants of the car . were killed instantly. Two others were taken to Hastings Hospital with serious injuries. The dead were Mei Vaikai, aged 68, of Waipawa, a front-seat

passenger, and John Kereminaita Bartlett, aged 21, of Pakipaki, a rear-seat passenger, and Mispah Keremei Brogden, aged 17 months, of Waipawa, who was on her mother’s knee in the rear. Injured were the driver of the car, Mini Bartlett, aged 54, of Pakipaki, and Miriamia Brogden. Ms Brogden gave birth by Caesarian section while undergoing surgery for her injuries, said hospital authorities last evening. The driver of the car is also in a stable condition in the'intensive care unit. The extent of the injuries suffered by both survivors was not released by hospital authorities. The Hastings police called the accident one of the worst tragedies on Hawke’s Bay roads for some time. They are looking for witnesses to the accident.