A man in his 40s was flown to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition by the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Hato Hone St John said four St John vehicles attended the crash along with the helicopter.
Around 2.10am, emergency services were called to a single-vehicle crash in Chatto Creek, Central Otago.
The crash happened on Omakau-Chatto Creek Rd between Flume Rd and Corrigall Rd, police said.
Fenz southern shift manager Blair Walkin said two crews - from Omakau and Alexandra - attended and helped extricate a person who was trapped in their vehicle.
Two ambulances and two rescue helicopters were sent to the scene, according to St John. Three patients were taken to Dunedin Hospital, two of them with critical injuries and one moderately hurt.
Police are continuing their investigations into the crash.
Last night’s crashes follow a fatal crash between a car and a motorbike on SH1 at Tūrangi on Thursday. Two people were injured in the State Highway 1 crash, and one died at the scene.
A person was also critically injured yesterday in a crash between a truck, van and car on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, with a northbound section of the motorway near Takanini closed for five hours.
So far this year there have been 286 deaths in crashes on New Zealand roads, well down from the road toll of 323 by this date in 2022 - a horror year for road fatalities.
In 2020, there had been 273 road fatalities by this date, while in 2021 the road toll was 281, according to Waka Kotahi.
