Tourist fighting for life after mountain bike crash

Fire volunteers remove mountain bikes after a crash near Queenstown left an English tourist with life-threatening injuries. Photo / David Williams

An English tourist was fighting for his life last night, after a mountain bike crash near Queenstown.

Constable Terry Wood, of Queenstown, said the 27-year-old man had life-threatening head injuries after he fell off his bike on Moke Lake Rd just before 6pm.

Const Wood did not know what caused the crash. The man, who was biking with a friend, was wearing a helmet, he said.

The crash happened on a relatively straight, downhill section of gravel road.

The injured man was taken to Lakes District Hospital and transferred to Dunedin by the Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust helicopter.

Last night he was in the intensive care unit at Dunedin Hospital.