Dental records sought to identify dead driver

Dental records are being sought from Australia to formally identify a driver killed when his car crashed into a power pole at Marsden Point near Whangarei yesterday.

The car burst into flames after the impact and police said the driver could not be formally identified visually because of his injuries.

Police said their Australian counterparts had been asked to provide dental records but if none existed, they would try to make a DNA comparison.

They were reasonably sure on the identity of the victim but needed formal proof to satisfy the coroner. The man was thought to have been in the country for only five months.

The car drifted off the road and crashed into a power pole at the intersection of One Tree Point Road and Rama Road, about 9am.

The driver was the sole occupant of the car.

- NZPA