KEY POINTS:
Death of woman takes road toll to four
The Labour Weekend road toll has risen to four after a woman died in Nelson Hospital after an accident near Murchison yesterday.
Earlier police named Levi Falemoe, 5, who died after being hit by a vehicle in a Lower Hutt
church courtyard.
The death of the 57-year-old woman near Murchison took the Labour Weekend road toll provisionally to four.
The other deaths included two men who died in a crash on the Wellington motorway on Saturday night.
Lower Hutt police are investigating Levi Falemoe's death at The Spring of Living Water Assembly of God Church in George Street, Stokes Valley, at 3pm yesterday.
Levi was with his mother in a relative's four-wheel-drive, along with other family members being dropped off at the church to attend a family sports day.
Lower Hutt police Detective Sergeant Dean Simpson said the boy got out of the vehicle in the church courtyard area, to play with other children from the congregation.
As the driver moved forward to park, Levi was hit by the 4WD, and died a short time later at the scene.
Mr Simpson said the police serious crash unit carried out a scene examination and an examination of the vehicle would be completed today.
Police have interviewed the driver, and were speaking with other passengers in the vehicle at the time of incident.
A Murchison police spokesman said a 57-year-old woman died about 9pm in Nelson Hospital after a head-on crash on State Highway 6 near Murchison at 2.45pm.
She was the driver of one of the cars. Her passenger, a man, today remained a serious condition in Nelson Hospital, as did the driver of the other vehicle.
The serious crash unit was investigating.
Yesterday police named two young men killed in a crash near Wellington's ferry terminal on Saturday night.
They were David Setu Patrick Iafeta, 19, and Jimmy Junior Rere, 20, both of Porirua.
Wellington CIB Detective Sergeant Donna Howard said the driver, another young male, remained in a serious but stable condition at Wellington Hospital and police hoped to speak with him soon.
The men were killed when the car hit a barrier on the southbound lane of State Highway 1 near the Aotea off-ramp about 10pm on Saturday.
One of them was flung 40m over the motorway barrier on to the ferry terminal carpark. Ferry staff rushed to his aid but he died before ambulance staff arrived. The second man also died at the scene after landing on the motorway.
Police said it was believed that the men had both been wearing seatbelts but could not explain how they were thrown from the vehicle.
It was not yet known what caused the crash. Ms Howard said no other vehicles were thought to be involved.
- NZPA
