Armed man on pipes ‘difficult to talk to’

WELLINGTON: An armed man who had been on top of pipes at the entrance of Wellington’s Terrace Tunnel for seven hours had cut himself and was demanding to talk to his partner last night.

The man climbed on to the pipes after his vehicle crashed headon into another car while he was driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic on State Highway 1 about noon.

Police closed the tunnel following the incident and tried all afternoon to get him to climb down.

The man refused food and water and Wellington district commander Inspector Chris Bensemann said he could remain on top of the pipes all night.

The man was carrying a knife which he had used to slash his forearms, Insp Bensemann said. Splatterings of blood can be seen on the pipe.

‘‘He has been difficult to talk to. He is agitated — his energy levels reduced throughout the afternoon in the heat of the day.

‘‘He is making requests to speak to his partner and we’re trying to work through those requests.’’

Police were determined to resolve the issue without ‘‘anyone being hurt’’.

Police immediately closed the tun nel following the incident and said earlier yesterday they were unable to comment on when it would be reopened.

They had organised four doubledecker buses to park underneath the man, reducing the drop space between him and the ground.

A couple driving south through the tunnel were about four cars behind the collision.

‘‘As we got closer we realised that the car that basically caused the crash was coming north in the southbound lane,’’ the woman said.

‘‘We were like ‘oh my God’ — it looked really bad.’’ — NZME