Two people are dead after a car crashed while being chased by police in Christchurch last night.
The pursuit began shortly after 8pm when officers spotted a car travelling 89kmh in a 50kmh zone along Ferry Road, police area commander Inspector Malcolm Johnston said.
The driver failed to stop when signalled, and police followed him north along Fitzgerald Avenue.
At the Gloucester St intersection the car went through a red light, colliding with another car.
The driver of the second car, a 73-year-old man, as well as his passenger, a woman believed to be aged in her 60s, were both killed.
The driver who was being chased suffered minor head injuries and was taken to hospital.
Mr Johnston said the man was a disqualified driver and was well known to Christchurch police.
"Police were duty bound to stop this driver. Travelling at nearly 90kph along Ferry Road is a recipe for disaster. He could have killed anyone at any stage," Mr Johnston said.
"Blame for this tragedy lies entirely with this driver. He was signalled to stop and he should have stopped."
Mr Johnston said he had spoken with the officers involved and they were devastated.
The incident follows a triple-fatal police pursuit in Christchurch last month.
Shannon Smiler-O'Connor, 26, was killed in the crash on July 10 when the car he was travelling in sped away from a routine police stop about 1am.
After pursuing the car for a few streets, police found it smashed into a concrete pole at the intersection of Manchester St and Moorhouse Avenue.
The car's driver Tama Regan Dobson, 27, and another passenger, Karleane Marie Magon, 20, died in hospital weeks after the crash.
