The parents of a baby boy who died following a crash near Timaru are expected to be contacted by police today.
The 4-week-old baby was travelling with its mother, father and two older siblings on State Highway 1 near Timaru when their car collided with a four-wheel-drive about 12.30pm yesterday.
All five family members were taken to Timaru Hospital. The baby died at about 11.30pm last night.
The two other children involved in the smash - a 2-year-old and 4-year-old - and their father, 28, were discharged yesterday. Their mother, 27, suffered minor injuries and as was kept in hospital longer.
Waimate police Senior Sergeant Mike van der Heyden said the 49-year-old driver of the four-wheel-drive involved in the collision was unharmed.
"It is quite evident that the white vehicle the family was in had been on the left-hand side of the road and then had turned in front of the vehicle coming from behind it.''
"By the time the police arrived there, all the patients had been removed from the vehicle,'' Mr van der Heyden said.
"They'd been cut out [but] the restraints were obviously all in place.
