One dead in Whakatāne in nightmare weekend on NZ roads

The weekend road toll has risen to seven after a person died when a ute rolled on Wainui Rd near Whakatāne at about 5.15am today. Photo / File

A man has died in a crash near Whakatāne this morning.

Police were called after a ute rolled on Wainui Rd at about 5.15am.

An investigation into the crash is underway.

Police said no further information was available at this stage.

The death brings the weekend road toll to seven.

Three people died in a crash near Kaikoura on Friday.

It is understood two of the victims were family members from Malaysia.

Malaysia's New Straits Times has reported a family medicine specialist and her husband were among the family members killed in the crash.

The family wants the victims to be buried in Christchurch, the paper reported.

A third person was killed and two people critically injured during the accident when a truck and the car in which the family were travelling collided on State Highway 1.

Two more people were killed when a train collided with a car near Morrinsville on Saturday.

Their names are yet to be released.

The same day a pedestrian was fatally struck by a train in South Auckland.

The accidents take the national 2019 road toll to 313 deaths.