Five die in four road accidents
A TRAGIC weekend on the country's roads has claimed five lives and injured several others.
One person died when a peoplemover hurtled down a bank in North Otago yesterday.
Emergency services were called to the singlecar crash on Main Rd, Maheno (State Highway 1) at 10.06am yesterday.
Police confirmed the sole occupant of the car was found dead at the scene.
A reporter at the scene said the car was about 10m to 15m from the road in a paddock and badly damaged.
It appeared the car was travelling north when it left the road close to the entrance to Maheno.
Debris was spread across the paddock.
The police spokeswoman said the road remained open following the crash.
The investigation into the cause was ongoing and the Serious Crash Unit had been advised.
A person died in Waikato Hospital after a camper van and a car collided yesterday afternoon on Parry Palm Ave (SH2), Waihi.
The victim had been in the car.
A second person from the car was reported to still be in a serious condition in hospital. Two others suffered moderate injuries in the crash.
One person died at the scene of a singlevehicle collision on SH1 Riverlands in Marlborough last night.
And two bodies were recovered from a car that plunged into a lake near Rotorua on Saturday, police confirmed yesterday.
The car was winched to the surface of the lake, after being submerged in water for almost 24 hours.
A Sunlive photographer at the scene yesterday morning said he saw two bodies recovered, and a hearse waiting nearby.
He said the car appeared to be a station wagon.
Police have now confirmed that two people died, and police are working to support their family.
The car crashed off State Highway 30 into Lake Rotoma — 38km east of Rotorua — at 12.30pm yesterday.
Emergency services unsuccessfully tried to lift it from the water, before it was recovered with the help of the police dive team.
The lake has a maximum depth of 73m at the southern end, where the highway skirts it. — Additional reporting The New Zealand Herald/RNZ