A family near Auckland has lost three members in a tragic car crash that shut down SH1. The victims are Fa’aofo Uili Fa’aofo, 45, and his nephews Leauga Jerry Leauga, 37, and Ta’avao Kelemete, 32. The accident happened when a truck, driving south, blew a tyre, crashed through barriers, and hit their vehicle.
Afamasaga Faamatalaupu Toleafoa, Samoa’s NZ High Commissioner, confirmed that five seasonal workers were involved in the incident. Fa’aofo, who was from New Zealand, had picked up the workers from Bay of Plenty to return to Samoa this week.
Family members expressed shock and grief. “We’re all just shocked. We just cried and cried,” said a relative. They couldn’t believe that three family members were lost in such a tragedy.
Two other people from the crash are in the hospital with moderate injuries, and Leauga’s 21-year-old brother is in critical condition. A survivor traveling in the van shared on social media that the two others involved were “well and breathing,” but it was hard for him to talk about Leauga and Kelemete. He posted a video on TikTok honoring the victims, saying, “I will never get to see you again.”
Toleafoa mentioned there is a lot of work needed to arrange for the bodies to return to Samoa and believes all the men were from Savai’i island.
