Teens catapulted from stolen car at high speed
Youths were catapulted from an overloaded, stolen car that crashed at high speed after evading police.
A 13-year-old passenger in the silver Mazda Demio, which was packed with eight people, has extremely serious leg injuries, while a 14-year-old is in a critical condition in hospital fighting for her life.
Police pursued the car after it sped from the forecourt at BP Connect, Rolleston, south-west of Christchurch, at 4.22am on Sunday. The chase was abandoned for safety reasons, less than a minute later, when the fleeing vehicle, while travelling at high speed, veered onto the wrong side of the road, police said.
About 20 minutes later, in a 70kmh zone on State Highway 1, Rakaia, the driver, thought to be a 14-year-old boy, lost control and crashed off the right-hand side of the road.
The car came to rest on its roof in the middle of the road between Fergusson St and S Town Belt.
It’s unclear how many people in the car were wearing seatbelts, but several were ejected.
Emergency services were called to the crash, about 35 kilometres south from BP Connect in Rolleston, at 4.40am.
The scene was chaotic and there was initially confusion about the number of occupants in the vehicle.
Police said there were eight people, aged 13 to 19, in the car. They were from Rolleston and Christchurch. Seven people were transported to Christchurch Hospital for treatment. Two of them, the 13 and 14-year-old girls, were flown by helicopter.
Stuff understands the police officers involved in the initial pursuit were unaware there were teenagers in the car, but it appeared overloaded.
The car, which had been stolen from the Rolleston area hours earlier, was travelling in excess of the speed limit at the time of the crash. It was badly damaged.
Inspector Peter Cooper said initial indications suggested the driver was a 14-year-old boy, but that had not been confirmed.
Cooper described the crash as ‘‘an absolute tragedy’’.
The serious crash unit is investigating the crash. No charges have been laid, as yet.