An innocent motorist has been killed and a manhunt was under way in central Auckland after a speeding driver ploughed into another car.
Two people fled the scene after a black Mercedes and small silver Toyota collided on Symonds St about 4.45am. / Video by Jason Oxenham
The taxi driver who died after an allegedly drunk driver slammed into his car in central Auckland had recently become a dad.
Abdul Raheem Fahad Syed, 29, fed and put his 5-month-old son Syed Abdul Rehman to bed before he started work about midnight on Friday.
The couple had been married for three and a half years, but had known each other for 17 years.
They moved to New Zealand in 2014 from Hyderabad in India and were planning on applying for residency.
Close friend Mohammed Kazim, who worked for Discount Taxis with Syed, had been on the phone to him not long before the crash on Symonds St.
Kazim said Syed's wife had been left devastated by the news of the tragedy.
"She couldn't even stand, there were two ladies holding her."
Kazim told the Herald on Sunday he had earlier became concerned after Syed stopped answering his phone so decided to track his friend's car on the Discount Taxi internal app, which shows the location of drivers.
"It was showing him on Symonds St ... and then I saw [something] on the app about a crash and I got worried ... so I went to the road and saw his car," said Kazim who recalled the constant flashing of emergency lights.
Desperate to know if his friend was okay, Kazim asked police at the scene what had happened. Unable to get any answers, he decided to go to Syed's house in Avondale to see if his wife Nishat knew anything.
But with no one aware of the crash Kazim rushed to Auckland Hospital to see if Syed had been admitted.
"I used to talk to him like every day. He was really close to me. We used to start shifts together and then finish together."
Syed and his wife had moved to New Zealand from Hyderabad, the capital of India's Telegana state, about three years ago, according to Kazim. The pair have no family here.
The crash site. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Family and friends were making arrangements to get Syed's body back to India, where his parents and older brother live.
A 20-year-old man has been arrested and charged with drink-driving and other offences in relation to the smash, which happened about 4.45am.
The driver of the vehicle and a passenger allegedly fled the scene after ther crash and were found only with the help of members of the public, police and the Eagle helicopter.
Speaking outside Auckland central police station earlier on Saturday, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the Mercedes driver would appear in Auckland District Court on Wednesday.
Taxi drivers in central Auckland spoken to by the Herald on Sunday last night expressed sadness that one of their own had lost his life while on the job.
A black Mercedes at the scene of the crash that took Abdul Syed's life. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Binpinkumar Tavidia, who works for Auckland Co-op Taxis, said he had encountered "quite a few idiot drivers" in the 11 years he'd been driving taxis.
"Speeding, jumping lights - it's quite common. It's very frustrating."
Due to the dangerous driving he had seen at night, Tavidia, who is married with three children, now only drives during the day.
Syed's death was the first within the Christmas holiday road toll period, which began at 4pm Friday and ends at 6am on January 3.
