Steep terrain is making it difficult for emergency services to free the body of a driver of a truck which plunged down a gorge on the Otira Highway between Arthur's Pass and the West Coast this morning.
The crash happened on a steep and narrow downhill section of the highway about 6.30am today.
The fully laden truck and trailer unit was heading toward Greymouth when it went off the road and crashed 50m down the gorge to the edge of the Otira River, killing the driver.
"Our serious crash investigation unit is at the scene along with other emergency services," said Constable Brett Currie, of Greymouth police.
"The driver is trapped in the cab of the truck. Heavy lifting equipment is being brought in to help extricate the man's body."
He said the driver's name would not be released until he had been formally identified.
"It's too early to say what caused the crash, but the road will remain closed for the rest of the day until the scene is cleared."
Mr Currie said police believed the driver was alone in the cab but would not know for certain until the wreckage was lifted.
"The weather conditions were appalling at the time and we don't know if this was a contributing factor or not," Mr Currie said.
"We'd certainly like to hear from any other people who were using the same section of road around the time of the crash to help us with information on how the crash happened."
