One killed, four injured in crash near 'dangerous' Mt Cook intersection

Wednesday, 29 August 2018

One person has been killed and four people injured after a crash involving three vehicles near Mt Cook.

One person has been killed and four people have been injured, two seriously, in a car crash at a 'dangerous' intersection near Mt Cook.

Three vehicles were involved in the crash, which took place on Tekapo-Twizel Rd (State Highway 8), at the intersection with Mt Cook Rd (State Highway 80) just after 3pm on Wednesday.

One person was killed in the three-car crash, and four people were injured, two seriously.

Police Sergeant Mike van der Heyden said the person who died was the driver in a vehicle travelling on SH80 from the direction of Mt Cook.

The vehicle turned onto SH8, heading towards Twizel, and into the path of an oncoming vehicle heading from Twizel towards Tekapo.

'The vehicle has pulled out and been t-boned and the driver has died,' he said.

A third vehicle, travelling from Tekapo, was waiting at the intersection to turn onto SH80.

A petition was launched last year to improve the 'dangerous' intersection of SH8 and SH80.

'It was waiting to turn and it has been struck by the vehicle that got t-boned,' van der Heyden said.

The Serious Crash Unit is investigating the crash. SH8 remained closed at Pukaki Dam as of 6.15pm.

The site of the fatal crash, at the intersection of Tekapo-Twizel Rd (SH8) and Mount Cook Rd (SH80).

St John Ambulance spokesman Gerard Campbell said two helicopters transported two people with serious injuries to Dunedin Hospital.

Another two patients, one with moderate injuries and one with minor injuries, were transported to Timaru Hospital by ambulance, Campbell said.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) spokesman said crews from Twizel and Lake Tekapo assisted police and St John.

Police close off the scene of the fatal crash as they inspect the three vehicles involved.

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The Mackenzie District Council advised road users travelling south should use SH1, SH83, and back on SH8, and reverse for those heading south, as an alternative route.

Two people with serious injuries were flown to Dunedin Hospital by helicopter following the crash.

Last year, a Twizel school teacher launched a petition calling for changes to the 'dangerous' intersection between SH8 and SH80.

One of the vehicles involved in the collision can be seen on the side of the road.

She was lobbying NZ Transport Agency and Safer Journeys to change the intersection from a give way to a compulsory stop.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews, St John and police all attended the crash, which took place following wet weather in the area.

'It's a real concern for the locals that drive through this area. There's so many close calls, so many accidents,' Sandy Nelson said at the time.

'People come down from Mt Cook and come onto the main highway, and I think people just forget it's a give way.'

Twizel Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Simon Fox said he supported Nelson's petition.

'People come back down the road and are relaxed and don't see that they are going onto a main highway, it is a major intersection,' he said at the time.

Earlier on Wednesday, a driver was killed in a rush-hour crash in Wellington's Terrace Tunnel, and another driver died in a crash at Tolaga Bay, north of Gisborne.