Two injured as car crashes by Masterton school

A woman was seriously injured after a car left the road and narrowly missed approaching traffic near a Masterton school yesterday.

Police cordoned off the stretch of State Highway 2, on the southern approach to the Opaki overbridge, where the crash happened just after 3pm yesterday.

Parents crossed paddocks to retrieve their children from the nearby Opaki School and school buses were turned back at the police cordon. Drivers were told to turn around and find an alternative route.

Fire Station officer Kevin Smith said there were no other cars involved in the crash and the two occupants of the car had left the vehicle by the time firefighters arrived at the scene.

Mr Smith said other vehicles heading in the opposite direction had narrowly avoided the car as it left the road.

He said one woman had serious injuries, although both women were conscious when fire crews arrived.

The white hatchback in which the pair were travelling had come to rest on the roadside and one fire appliance, two ambulances and multiple police officers had attended the scene.

The Lifeflight Trust Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called and landed at the nearby Opaki Racecourse, ready to transport one of the women to Wellington Hospital.

The other woman was taken to Wairarapa Hospital by ambulance but the nature of her injuries was not known.

Hospital spokeswoman Jill Stringer said the woman was in "satisfactory and stable" condition, although it was not clear whether she would stay overnight in hospital.

Police were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.