Three children remain in critical condition following a horror road smash near Matamata in Waikato - where they were found in a ditch after being thrown from a car.
Two of the critically injured children are in Waikato Hospital and the third is in Starship Hospital in Auckland.
Of the other two children injured in the crash, one is in a serious but stable condition while the other is stable.
All five children involved in the crash are aged 10-13 and an investigation into the circumstances of the crash is ongoing.
The crash happened shortly before midnight on Monday and witnesses told Newshub they were surprised any of the children survived.
The crushed Nissan Tiida was left flipped upside-down on the side of the road with its roof almost caved in.
All but one of the kids were thrown from the vehicle and found nearby in a ditch.
Katelyn Beale witnessed the crash from her house and was the first to arrive on the scene.
"We just hear a big bang and looked over and saw a car rolling so that was pretty scary," she said.
"I heard a little boy crying for help... we could hear moaning and groaning from all of them, I think they were just in and out."
The first person she came across was an 11-year-old boy and waited with him until emergency services arrived.
"He had a big gash on his head and a broken ankle... it was quite overwhelming and just waiting for police to arrive and it was all hectic," Beale said.
Witnesses said the car was speeding when it lost control, flipped several times and travelled a couple of hundred metres before it landed in the ditch on the side of Morrinsville-Walton Rd.
"The car was totalled. The front where the motor is all smashed in, the roof was nearly caved in, there was no more of the boot - it's all gone, it's horrible," Beale said.
Amy Scott was with Beale at the time and waited with one of the boys near the wreckage.
"He was very quiet, he was on and off. Then the cop turned up and the cop knew who it was," Scott says.
Newshub understands the children were involved in a burglary at a vape store in Matamata shortly before the accident.
Police said the car had been stolen from Hamilton.
