31 Mar 2019

Man charged with drink driving after hit and run kills two

3:42 pm on 31 March 2019

A man has been charged with drink driving after a hit and run, in which two people died north of Auckland last night.

Close up of a St John ambulance on a residential street.

Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

A two-car crash happened just before 9pm on State Highway 1 at Tōpuni, north of Wellsford.

Police said two people died at the scene.

Two other people injured in the crash, including a child, are in a stable condition in hospital.

The driver of the other car involved did not stop and continued to drive towards Auckland.

A 19-year-old man faces two charges of excess breath alcohol causing death and could face other charges, police said.

He is due to appear in North Shore District Court tomorrow.

Police are calling for witnesses to the accident.

They said the car involved was a silver coloured four-door sedan.

Two other people died in a separate crash last night, outside of Hawera, in the Taranaki District.

It was a single car crash at about 8.30pm, a few kilometres west of the township.