A collision between a truck and car on Gordonton Rd in Taupiri, 26km north west of Hamilton, at 9.40am left one person dead and several others with critical injuries, northern police communications Inspector Lou Alofa said.
Emergency services remained at the scene and traffic was closed off at the intersection of State Highway 1 and SH1B to the north and where SH1B intersect with Henry St in the south.
Motorists were advised not to use SH1B at all.
Two hours earlier, a man died in a single-car crash on Wardville Rd in Waharoa, 53km east of Hamilton.
Mr Alofa said it appeared the man lost control of the vehicle, going off the road and into a nearby paddock where he crashed into a bank.
Last year over the Easter holiday period seven people died and 191 were injured on New Zealand roads.
The official Easter holiday period runs from 4pm yesterday until 6am on Tuesday.
