Four in hospital after three-car accident

Four people are still in hospital after a three-car crash in Christchurch on Monday evening.

Seven people were originally taken to Christchurch Hospital after the crash on the corner of Ferry and Ensors roads, in Waltham, at 7.30pm. A Canterbury District Health Board spokesman said yesterday three people had been discharged.

Of the four people still in hospital, a 27-year-old man is in a comfortable state, two requested privacy, and a status update could not be provided for the fourth person.

The crash added to the road toll over the Christmas period. Since Friday, four people have died and nine people have been injured on the roads in New Zealand.

A man died when his car crashed on the Christchurch Southern Motorway about 9pm on Friday. The next morning in the North Island, one person died and another was critically injured when their vehicle crashed on Te Puna Rd, near Tauranga, about 4.30am.

A woman died when her car crashed off a bank on Bossu Rd, Banks Peninsula, about 12pm on Saturday. She was 53-year-old Christchurch woman Tess Simpkins.

Just hours later, about 2.10pm, a woman was killed when the van she was in rolled on Mount Cook Rd, north of Twizel. Another person was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

One person was critically injured after a single vehicle crash on Canterbury’s Main North Rd, near Sandhill Rd, Kaiapoi at 1.30am on Tuesday.