The wider Te Awamutu community has turned out in droves to attend a candlelight vigil to honour eight of their own killed on Waikato roads in recent weeks.
Around 200 people carrying candles braved the cold at Selwyn Park to reflect on the deaths with a karakia, poem and song sung by local children to mark the tragedies.
The vigil comes a week after three young people - Piata Ofufangavalu, Cheyene Love-Mitchell and Suliasi Lefai - died when their car collided with another on the outskirts of Te Awamutu.
Paul and Lois Grimmer of Whatawhata, who were in the other vehicle, also died at the scene.
"This has really hit our community hard. We've also lost two other locals in separate motorbike crashes in the last month, Donna McCauley and Leon Kennerley, so this is our chance to remember them too," said organiser Aimee Coleman-White.
Former Waipa Councillor James Parlane, 61, was also killed last month in a two-vehicle crash on SH3 at Ohaupo.
It's understood several family members of the victims were in attendance at the vigil.
Eight candles, alongside photos of each victim, sat on a table at the front of the sombre crowd.
Coleman-White said the vigil was the community's way of showing gratitude to emergency services personnel in recognition of the work they do, and to acknowledge the toll crashes can have on them.
"My step-father is a cop, I know how hard it is for them," she said.
