The victims of a horror crash on a road between Picton and Blenheim on Sunday have been named.
Three generations of family ranging from nine months to 61 years old were tragically killed on their way home to Auckland from a funeral down south.
The grieving family of the victims confirmed to the NZ Herald the names of those involved in the crash.
Among those dead were husband and wife Paul and Diseree Brown, 61 and 48 and their youngest son Mark, 14.
Diseree's sister Divine Dolar, 56, and Divine's daughter Flordeliza Dolar, 19 were also killed in the crash.
Two of Diseree's sons Pedro Clariman, 26, and Luie Lagud, 16, survived but Luie was in a coma and is undergoing surgery this afternoon.
Pedro's partner died alongside their daughter Mika, only between nine to 10 months.
Diseree has three other children who did not travel and are devastated by the huge loss of their family members.
Tasman District Commander Inspector Paul Borrell said the cause had not yet been confirmed but early indications were the van crossed the centreline before colliding with a truck.
Police have confirmed the driver of the van as one of the deceased in the fatal crash.
Marlborough Area Commander inspector Simon Feltham said two people remain in Wellington Hospital, one in serious condition and one in a serious but stable condition.
He said the investigation is ongoing and the police's focus remains on gathering information to assist the Coroner and on supporting the victims in the crash and the first responders.
The matter will be referred to the Coroner in due course.
A family friend of the victims, Bill, told Newstalk ZB on Monday three generations were lost in the collision.
He said the Auckland-based family visited him in Rolleston, south of Christchurch, on Saturday night.
"They were just comfortable, they had pillows and blankets," Bill told Newstalk ZB.
"I'd suggested, 'Why don't you stay and have more sleep?' And my friend said, 'No we'll be okay we'll just slowly make our way up to Picton and have a couple of hours sleep when we get there while we wait for the ferry.'
"So they left and I went to bed and never thought any more about it."
Earlier on Monday morning, Marlborough Deputy Mayor Nadine Taylor said she understood the van was carrying members from the same family who were travelling north after attending a funeral, likely on their way to catch the Interislander.
"Somehow, that just adds to tragedy," Taylor told AM.
Newshub reporter Juliet Speedy, who was at the scene on Sunday, told AM the road where the crash happened - State Highway 1 near Picton - could be notorious for dangerous driving. Locals she spoke to on Sunday said the stretch of highway had been a death trap for years.
Taylor noted locals had previously raised concerns about the road being dangerous.
"It is a stretch of road that's really busy because we have a million people travel through [to] the ferry," she said.
"We don't know what the factors are in this [crash] so we'll need to wait for the report to come out to see if there are any commonalities.
"I would like to see some more passing lanes, probably, between Blenheim and Picton. We do find that as people get closer to the ferry - [motorists] have got their eyes on their watches and they've got their eyes on the ferry timetable so there can be some pretty tricky overtaking manoeuvres. I'm not suggesting that was the case here but it is something we're quite aware of."
Multiple people were also injured in Sunday's crash - one of whom has since left the hospital.
"The truck driver has been discharged from hospital," Speedy said. "The other two remain in hospital; the last update I had was that one was in a serious condition the other not so serious [and] stable."
Speedy, who was escorted to the crash site on Sunday, said the scene was "heartbreaking".
"I've been a journalist for over 20 years and, sadly, I've been to many crash scenes and I've never seen one like this.
"We were taken right up to the wreckage of that van, which was still sitting on the side of the road - it was unrecognisable as a van except for the back two seats were OK. The rest of it was completely crumpled and mashed up.
"It was just awful to see."
SH1 where the crash happened, which was closed for most of Sunday while police investigators combed the scene, has since reopened.
"The road is now open between Tuamarina to Picton," the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said in a statement on Sunday evening.
"Please be advised that there is a temporary speed limit of 50km/h in place."
Investigations into the crash were ongoing.
"At the moment, we are still establishing what happened but it would appear that the van has crossed the centreline," Borrell said on Sunday, describing the scene as "absolute carnage".
"When you have heavy vehicles such as a truck involved, hitting a lighter vehicle head-on, it's terrible."
