The bus involved in a fatal crash on Christmas Eve near Gisborne has been recovered.
RNZ reports parts of State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Gisborne were shut from 6am today to allow for the removal.
Two people died when the bus, carrying a student brass band from Tonga, crashed through a barrier and plunged down a bank.
The bus was removed at about 9am and the road has since re-opened, Sergeant Cory Ubels said.
Mr Ubels, the police officer in charge of the serious crash unit for the Eastern District, said recovering the bus was a very difficult task.
"It was about 30 to 40 metres down a very steep bank with foliage and large rocks, we had to winch the bus up using two very large winch trucks and then a crane at the top to put it on to a low-loader to take it back to the Gisborne yard."
There were 53 people on board the bus when it crashed. 29 people were taken to hospital.
The students on board were from Mailefihi Siu'ilikutapu College on the island of Vava'u. They were were on a four-week tour of New Zealand, raising funds for a school celebration in July.
The crash killed Sione Taumololo, 11, and Talita Fifita, 33.
The investigation into the cause of the crash was continuing, Mr Ubels said.
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