Divers hunt for man who fled crash

The police dive squad today joined the search for a West Coast man who dashed into the Grey River after fleeing a car crash.

The search was scaled back yesterday after police failed to find Andrew David Lorimer, 21, who disappeared after he ran into the river on Sunday.

He was last seen heading towards the river after the 3.30am crash at Taylorville, 12km northeast of Greymouth.

He later rang his girlfriend on his mobile phone saying he was in the river and that was the last time he was heard from.

The section of the river he was thought to have gone into was swollen and dangerous, police said.

"The only hope that we have is that he has got out of the river and is actively avoiding us," Constable Sean Judd, of West Coast search and rescue, earlier said.

Mr Lorimer's phone call to his girlfriend was not a clear conversation but he sounded stressed following the crash, he said.

- NZPA