Three people have died on New Zealand roads so far this weekend, adding to the summer holiday road toll.
A person died and five were injured after a car hit a tree on Oteha Valley Rd in Albany on Auckland's North Shore at 1.30am today.
One person had serious injuries, three had moderate injuries and one had minor injuries.
Police confirmed all six people were in the car when it crashed. A spokeswoman said they were unsure of the ages or genders of those involved.
Meanwhile, a man died yesterday after the van he was travelling in left Arundel Rakaia Gorge Rd, near Mount Somers in Mid-Canterbury, about 8am and crashed into the Rangitata Diversion Race.
He was travelling southbound when his van crashed into a bridge, entered the water and became fully submerged. Police said his body was found in the van.
In the early afternoon in the central North Island yesterday, a cyclist died after a collision with a car on the Taupo Expressway.
Medical attention was provided, but the cyclist died at the scene.
Northbound lanes were closed and diversions were put in place at Centennial Dr and Broadlands Rd after the fatality.
The police's Serious Crash Unit is investigating all three crashes.
Another two people were left with life-threatening injuries after a two-vehicle crash on SH2, south of the Bay of Plenty town of Katikati yesterday.
Emergency services were notified just after 4.30pm of the crash between the intersections of Wright and Aongatete roads.
SH2 was initially completely blocked as emergency services tended to the injured, which included two people in critical condition. Diversions were put in place between Tauranga and Paeroa, before the road was later reopened.
In Auckland, southbound traffic on the Southern Motorway was brought to a standstill after a bus caught fire near the Greenland interchange.
Emergency services were called to the incident shortly after 10am.
Fire Service spokesman Jaron Phillips said there were no reports of injuries and passengers had got off the bus safely.
The incident closed all southbound lanes for more than an hour, with all lanes only reopened at midday.
In Wellington, traffic on the motorway network was also slowed yesterday due to a crash.
A car rolled at the Porirua intersection of SH58 and James Cook Drive, causing one lane of the highway to be closed.
The deaths came after a horror holiday period on New Zealand roads, taking the 2017 toll to nine.
Nineteen people died during the holiday period, which began on December 23 and ended at 6am on January 4. The toll was the highest in four years.
Twelve people died on the roads in the 2015-16 holiday period.
