At least 50 lambs have already died and more deaths are expected after a stock truck and a van crashed near Ōtāne on Wednesday.

A 20-year-old van driver sustained serious injuries in the crash at the intersection of Pourerere Rd and River Rd and was on Thursday morning in a stable condition at Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

Stephenson Transport CEO Todd Stephenson confirmed a new stock truck from their fleet was involved in the two-vehicle crash.

He said an experienced 29-year-old truck driver was travelling to Ōmakere with 300 to 350 store stud ewe lambs from out of Hawke’s Bay when the collision occurred, overturning the trailer after the crash.

Jayme Hamelink said the intersection is well marked, but occasionally challenging for drivers. Photo / Jayme Hamelink

Stephenson praised his truck driver, saying the man’s quick actions had avoided an even more serious collision with the van.

“Under those circumstances, you only have split seconds to react, and with a load on board there is a lot of height and weight that you have got to be able to control.”

He said that as the driver tried to correct his truck and trailer after the collision, the trailer lost balance and tipped on its side.

Stephenson said the hardest part of crashes like these was to get the livestock out of the crates quickly to minimise deaths. He said the angle the trailer had ended up in made that challenging.

“You will always have them smother [each other] in that position.”

Stephenson said truck drivers and stock agents were at the scene on Thursday sorting the lambs, and they had been in contact with the farmer who bought the animals.

Waipawa resident Jayme Hamelink came across the crash when he was headed home from work.

He said when he arrived on the scene there were “plenty of people already there helping” and the road was covered in debris from the van.

“I heard lots of ‘baaing’ from the sheep, and people were getting them out of the overturned trailer,” Hamelink said.

He said in his experience, the intersection occasionally had people “sail right through it”, despite being well marked.

A police spokesperson said the crash was still under investigation.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.