A 47-year-old Polish woman died and six other Polish nationals were injured in the crash just after 2pm as the van headed north towards Ross. The dead woman’s partner was among those taken to hospital.
Sergeant Andrew Lyes, of Greymouth police, said the vehicle was being driven by a New Zealander and was carrying nine Polish tourists.
It crashed near the intersection of Happy Valley Rd and State highway 6, near the Kakapotahi River bridge.
"From what we understand, another motorist had witnessed the vehicle swerving on the road before the crash," Mr Lyes said.
Details of what went wrong were sketchy and investigators from the Serious Crash Unit were still at the scene yesterday.
Police had yet to ascertain where the tourists had been and where they were going.
The driver and passengers were due to be interviewed.
"We have been having a few translation issues as the language barrier has been making it a little hard to get all of the details. Understandably, they are very shaken up by what has happened and police are supporting everyone involved."
- Viv Logie
