A 16-year-old girl has died after crashing the apparently stolen car she was driving into another vehicle while fleeing police in South Auckland.
The crash also put her passenger, a 15-year-old girl, in hospital with serious injuries. Neither were believed to have been wearing seatbelts.
A police statement said the pursuit of the car had stopped at the time of the accident, which happened in Mangere early this morning.
"The pursuing officer lost sight of the stolen vehicle and came across it when it had crashed into an oncoming vehicle on Buckland Rd."
The pursuit followed a police call to Hill Rd in Papatoetoe about 3.30am after reports of someone breaking into a car.
Police got to Hill Rd four minutes later, just as the alleged stolen vehicle drove off, according to the statement.
"Police signalled for the vehicle to pull over but the driver failed to do so and fled from police."
The statement said the pursuit lasted about four minutes around the streets of Papatoetoe and Mangere.
A police spokeswoman said: "We do not believe seat belts were worn by either of the occupants. This is a tragedy for the families involved and our thoughts are with them at this time.
"These incidents are also devastating for our staff and it is the last thing our officers go to work for. This once again demonstrates the tragic consequences which can happen if a driver chooses not to stop for police."
The Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating.
A Buckland Rd resident was sitting on her deck with family when she said she saw a car speed past their property about 3.45am.
"It was going really fast down the middle of the road; over 100km/h, maybe even over 120km/h. It was really loud; revving lots like a car does when it's really going. We jumped up and saw it cross over the centre lane and crash into a vehicle that was coming from the other way. There was a loud bang."
The speeding vehicle then spun about and crashed into a fence, she said.
The resident said it wasn't the first crash she had seen on Buckland Rd - a long strip of road with a 50kmh speed limit.
