Three dead in ‘mangled mess’ after head-on
Rescuers use cutting gear to get to group of tourists in Tekapo crash
A head-on crash which claimed the lives of three Chinese tourists yesterday left the vehicles in a mangled mess.
Rescuers used cutting gear to get to the group of tourists travelling in a car on a metal road near Lake Tekapo in the South Island. The unsealed route is popular with visitors.
Braemar Station Shearers Lodge owner Hamish Mackenzie said he arrived at the scene shortly after the crash.
“It was pretty horrendous. There were a lot of emergency crew there, and a people carrier sideways on the road, which looked to have had a head-on crash with a double-cab truck.
“The people carrier was untidy, a mangled mess. Emergency crews were using the jaws of life to cut it open. Some guys I was talking to at the scene said there were tourists involved.” The double cab vehicle appeared to be carrying forestry workers, he said.
The accident happened about 10.30am halfway along Braemar Rd, between Lake Pukaki and Tekapo. It was “quite a dangerous” section on the country road, Mackenzie said.
“There have been crashes along Braemar Rd before, but not that spot. I have never seen anything that horrendous.”
The crash left two people with serious injuries and three with minor to moderate injuries.
A Chinese Embassy spokeswoman said that police told her the three dead were part of a group of five Chinese tourists in a car that collided with a four-wheel drive. The two others in the group were currently in Dunedin Hospital, she said.
Mackenzie said overnight rain would have dampened the dust, making for relatively good driving conditions.
“There are views of the Southern Alps, it is pretty scenic and so more tourists are coming along the road, but it is also a country road so needs to be treated with respect.
“This kind of thing shakes the hell out of the community. I’ve already had a number of phone calls checking it wasn’t us. I know a lot of the emergency crews too, they are all volunteers. It is all pretty humbling.”
Mackenzie District Mayor Graham Smith said he was devastated by the news.
“My biggest sympathy goes out to all those concerned and those families that have been caught up in this,” he said. “I send my grateful thanks to the emergency teams that attended. They have had to deal with a very tragic accident.”
Smith said Braemar Rd was a shingle road from State Highway 8 through to the edge of Lake Pukaki.
“It is not that busy, but it is one of those roads that you have to stay a car and a half behind and mind where you drive,” Smith said. “It is reasonably narrow in places, so you have to be conscious and look ahead, and careful to stay hard left on corners.
“I don’t know what has gone wrong, but it is extremely tragic. I know my community and I know they will be devastated by what has happened.”
The triple fatal crash took the number of people who have died on New Zealand roads this year to 65. This was slightly lower than last year, with 70 people having lost their lives at March 7, 2018.