Police have released the names of four Argentine men killed when their car crashed head-on into a logging truck near National Park last night.

Agustin Donofrio, 25, German Caceres, 35, Nicolas Ursic, 27 and Luciano Pucheta, 19, were killed as they drove back to their accommodation in National Park from an indoor soccer game.

Benjamin Blake, a 26-year-old from Chile, was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Emergency services were called to the crash on State Highway 4 just south of Erua, between Ohakune and National Park, about 10.30pm last night, police said.

Inspector Steve Mastrovich told APNZ that the car the five men were travelling in was overtaking in a dip in the road, when a truck and trailer came around a corner from the opposite direction.

They "smacked head-on into the truck and trailer'', he said.

A tow truck driver who attended the scene of the crash said the lorry went right over the car, crushing it to the back seat.

The tourists were returning to National Park from an indoor soccer game in Ohakune when the crash happened.

It was believed that at least some of the men were working on the Whakapapa ski field for the winter season.

Police said they would examine the car and the scene, as well as toxicology results, to see if any other factors contributed to the crash.

There were no-passing lines on some sections of the road, Mr Mastrovich said.

"In daylight you would see that straight and you would think it's not quite long enough to pass.''

Any prudent driver would not have overtaken another vehicle along that section of road, he said.

He said the tourists were driving in different circumstances to what they would have been used to.

Just two months ago, three American exchange students were killed when the van they were travelling in rolled near Turangi as they made their way to the Tongariro Crossing.

The tow truck driver who attended the crash last night, Colin Fredricksen, told APNZ it was one of the worst crashes he had seen on the job. "I've seen others that have been bad, but not so many people involved.''

He said the truck had crushed the car.

"He ran straight up over the top of the car, it smashed the motor and suspension completely out of the car, and squashed right to the back of the back seat,'' Mr Fredricksen said.

"These guys had no show of survival, there was no way they were going to survive with the truck running dead over the top of them.''

Mr Fredricksen said he spoke to the truck driver this morning, who could only recall seeing the headlights of the oncoming car before the crash.

Bryan Finnerty, from the Crossing Backpackers Ski Lodge in National Park, said the weather conditions last night were better than it has been all week.

There had not been a frost in the area for the past two days, and there was no ice on the road.

"The weather was good, and the road conditions were excellent,'' he said.

"It's a bit of a worry because it's the second large fatal accident in the last four months [in the area].''

The 26-year-old Chilean was this morning in a serious but stable condition in Waikato Hospital's high dependency unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The Argentine Embassy in Wellington would not comment at this stage.

- APNZ

By Hana Garrett-Walker | Email Hana