Anniversary road trip ends in death

Businessman Peter Lees was hit by a bus during a holiday in India. Photo / Supplied

A popular businessman has died after being hit by a bus during a holiday to India to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary.

Peter Lees, 72, was one of two New Zealander travellers to die in road accidents overseas this week.

The other was a top young engineer, Nicholas Young, whose parents have flown to Canada to bring their son's body home.

The deaths have prompted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urge Kiwis to register their travel plans on the "safe travel" website. An MFAT spokesman said registering "allows us to contact people when things go wrong, and helps with our processes to keep New Zealanders safe".

Lees, from Auckland's North Shore, died in Goa on Monday after getting off a tour bus at a religious site with his wife Somporn, two friends and his wife's teenage grandson.

"They all got off the bus and were about to cross the road to the temple and dad was hit by a minibus," said his daughter Margaret Peryman.

"They're all traumatised by what they've seen, we're just trying to get them home so we can all grieve together."

A local media report said police were investigating but Peryman said her father's death was a "random accident".

She and her brothers, Riki and Stuart, took comfort from the fact their father was killed in a country he loved.

Peter was an engineer by trade. He was self-employed in the 1970s before forming Lees Tech, a company that makes equipment for power generation.

"His passions were his businesses," said Peryman. "He lived and breathed work."

His work took him to India for the first time in the early 1980s. Peryman said he fell in love with the food, culture and people and returned once or twice a year.

He was also a frequent visitor to China and Thailand, where his wife was from, and made firm friends there too.

Condolences were "flooding in" for her dad, she said.

Ron King became friends with Lees through their local Rotary Club.

Lees joined in December 2006 and was an active member of the International Committee and helped relaunch the club's website.

King said his friend's sudden death was "a deep blow to his family and friends and will be deeply felt by all of his fellow club members".

Tom Cotter had been a friend of Lees for 40 years. He said they were instrumental in the upgrading of the Beach Haven and Birkdale Residents Association premises on Rangatira Rd. "He was a passionate man who went out to go and serve the community."

On Thursday Akaroa man Nicholas Young, 27, died in Vancouver after being struck by a car while out running.

Young graduated in engineering from Canterbury University and had moved to Canada in 2006 for a job.

"He was a young man of considerable promise and prospects, and this would appear to be a tragic accident," said a family friend.

The accident occurred while Young was on a zebra crossing and Vancouver police said they were investigating the death.

Young's parents, William and Susan, have flown to Canada to bring their son home.