Police are appealing for information after a car and motorbike collided along Ōhope Road and left one person dead.
Emergency services were called to the scene just before 5pm Sunday, Eastern Bay Road Policing Manager, Sergeant Shane Tailby said.
The road was closed for several hours before reopening around 4am Monday.
“It appears the motorbike has been travelling at speed around the corner where they have slid out onto their side into the opposite lane,” Tailby said.
Tailby said a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction “struck the motorbike”, with the impact resulting in the car flipping onto its roof.
The motorbike rider was found in a critical condition but died at the scene, despite CPR efforts while the driver of the vehicle was taken to Whakatāne Hospital with minor injuries, and has since been discharged.
An investigation into the cause of the crash remains ongoing, Tailby said.
Tailby is wanting anyone who saw the crash “or has information that may assist in our investigation” to contact Police via 105.