Timaru fatal crash: Member of public comes across a car crashed into a power pole with body inside

A person has died after a car hit a power pole on Seadown Rd on the outskirts of Timaru. File photo / George Heard

A member of the public came across a car that had hit a power pole outside Timaru this morning and found a body inside.

Police received a report around 9.10am from someone who had come across a crashed car on Seadown Rd, north of Timaru.

“The vehicle had collided with a power pole, and the sole occupant of the vehicle was located deceased,” a police statement said.

The police serious crash unit has been advised, and Seadown Rd is currently closed between Arowhenua Station Rd and Opihi River. State Highway 1 (SH1) remains open.

“Please avoid the area if possible,” police said.

It comes on the same piece of road where five teens - alled aged 15 or 16 - died in a horror crash four years ago.

Tyreese Fleming was just 19 when he crashed his Nissan Bluebird into a concrete power pole on Seadown Rd on August 6, 2021, killing passengers Javarney Wayne Drummond, 15, Niko William Hill, 15, Jack Wallace, 16, Joseff McCarthy, 16, and Andrew Goodger, 15.

Fleming, a restricted driver who had been drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel, pleaded guilty to five charges of dangerous driving causing death and was later sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

He was released from prison after serving 16 months in jail.