Weekend crashes claim three lives

Two women and a man died in road crashes during the weekend.

One woman died when the car she was driving rolled on Auckland's southern motorway early yesterday. The motorway between the Te Irirangi and Manukau City on-ramps was closed by the accident.

A woman pillion passenger on a tricycle motorbike died on Saturday on State Highway 49 near Tangiwai, 8km northwest of Waiouru. A police spokesman said the pair were returning from the Cold Kiwi Motorcycle Rally in Waiouru.

The 39-year-old male driver of the motorcycle was taken to Wanganui Hospital with chest injuries.

An elderly man is thought to have died of a heart attack when his car plunged down a bank on East Coast Bays Rd in Auckland's North Shore on Friday night.