Two people have been critically injured and another has moderate injuries in a crash early this morning near Te Anau.
Police, in a statement, said officers were called to the scene on Manapouri Te Anau Highway at around 12am.
“Two people were taken to hospital in a critical condition,” police said.
St John said a third person had serious injuries.
“The road was closed for a period of time while emergency services attended the scene,” police said, and enquiries were underway into the circumstances of the crash.
Hato Hone St John said it sent six ambulances, two helicopters, one rapid response unit, one first response unit, and one operations manager.
“Three patients were transported, all in critical to serious conditions, to both Invercargill and Dunedin Hospitals by helicopter and ambulance.”
The preliminary Christmas-New Year holiday road toll — for the period between December 24 at 4pm and January 3 at 6am — stands at nine.
The latest deaths were an adult and a child in a serious two-vehicle crash near Taihape, early on Sunday afternoon. Two adults and a child were injured in the crash on State Highway 1 north of Mangaweka.
