26 Oct 2015

Holiday road toll rises to five

9:44 pm on 26 October 2015

The Labour Weekend road toll has risen to five, with two fatal car crashes within hours of each other in Invercargill this morning followed by a crash in Wellington.

About 1am, a person died after a serious crash on Bluff Road and, just after 7am, a person was killed after their car drove into a shop on Dee Street.

A man also died after a crash between a motorbike and a car on Happy Valley Road in Wellington just before midday. The motorcyclist was critically hurt but it was one of the occupants in the car that died later from injuries suffered in the crash.

Yesterday, a pedestrian died after being hit by two heavy trucks on State Highway 39 near Pirongia.

And, on Saturday, a 21-year-old man was killed in a motorbike crash in Morrinsville.

Police said in a two-car crash near Rotorua last night, the impact of the crash tore one of the vehicles in half. No one died in that crash but the police said three people were injured, one with a suspected spinal injury.

The official end of the Labour Weekend is 6am tomorrow.

Three people died on the roads in the period last year.