Search for man who swam from police and strong winds could close lanes on the Harbour Bridge today. Video / NZ Herald
Police have asked motorists to avoid travelling on a major Coromandel highway as traffic builds after a fatal crash this morning.
Emergency services responded to the two-vehicle crash on State Highway 25 between Thames and Coromandel, which occurred between TePuru Creek Rd and Valder Place shortly before 9am.
Police confirmed one person died and four others suffered minor injuries. The road stayed closed for several hours.
In an update shortly before 3pm, police said traffic was also building on SH25a across the Coromandel Peninsula due to diversions after the crash and asked commuters to avoid travelling altogether for the next few hours.
“[This is] due to the current 90-minute delay on this route,” a police statement said.
“The delay is between Kopu and Tairua and motorists are asked to postpone their travel if possible as SH25 is still not reopened after the crash.”
SH25, up the western coast of the peninsula, reopened shortly before 4pm, but police said there may be “lengthy delays” clearing the backlog of traffic on that road and SH25a.
Traffic is at a standstill, just before Tairua in the Coromandel after motorists were diverted due to a fatal crash on the Thames-Coromandel road.
Police earlier confirmed one person died in the crash, taking the Christmas-New Year holiday road toll to four.
“Four people have sustained minor injuries,” a police spokesperson said.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson told the Herald four patients, all in minor condition, were assessed and treated at the scene.
It responded with two ambulances.
Fire and Emergency services were also on the scene.
“We’re attending a two-vehicle crash, there were three fire trucks on the scene, but now we just have one assisting police and ambulance,” a Fire and Emergency spokesperson said.
“There was one person trapped ... all other inquiries to police,” they said.
The popular holiday destination route is expected to be closed for quite some time while emergency services attend to the scene.
This marks the fourth death on New Zealand roads since the holiday road toll period began on December 24.
On Christmas Eve, a motorcyclist died in a crash involving a car in Parkvale, Tauranga. Later that evening, shortly after 10pm, another person died at the scene of a single-vehicle crash in Pah Hill Rd in the Auckland suburb of Wharehine. On Boxing Day, a third fatality occurred, on SH35 near Te Araroa north of Gisborne.
Police said that over the Christmas period last year 21 people died in road crashes.
