A 47-year-old Polish woman died and six other Polish nationals were injured in the crash at Kakapotahi just after 2pm. The dead woman's partner was among those taken to hospital.
Sergeant Andrew Lyes, of Greymouth, said the vehicle was driven by a New Zealander and was carrying nine Polish tourists.
It crashed near the intersection of Happy Valley Road and State Highway 6, near the Kakapotahi River bridge as it headed north towards Ross.
"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 still sketchy and investigators from the Serious Crash Unit were still at the scene today.
Police had yet to ascertain where the tourists had been and where they were going.
The driver and passengers were to be interviewed today.
"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," Mr Lyes said.
"Understandably, they are very shaken up by what has happened and police are supporting everyone involved."
- Viv Logie
