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Police say a man killed when his car crashed head-on into a bridge abutment in South Canterbury at the weekend had been driving home to Wanaka after a flight home from a holiday in Tonga.
Resident Englishman Cameron Scott Gallatly, 32, a porter at Edgewater resort in Wanaka, died when the car he was driving failed to take a right hand bend and crashed into the Stony Creek Bridge, between Geraldine and Fairlie, about 1.30pm on Saturday.
Senior Constable Mike Stephens, of Geraldine police, said Mr Gallatly had flown into Auckland from Tonga about 6.30am and caught a connecting flight to Christchurch that landed about 10.40am.
Mr Gallatly bought petrol at Rolleston, just south of Christchurch, at 11.50am and made a phone call to Wanaka about the same time.
A farmer alerted police about 3.50pm after finding Mr Gallatly's body in his Toyota Celica car, which was partly submerged in the creek. It was not visible from the road.
Mr Stephens told NZPA police believed the crash happened between 1.30pm and 2pm. It appeared Mr Gallatly failed to take a sweeping right-hand bend and had driven head-on into the bridge abutment.
Mr Gallatly had been living in Wanaka for about 17 months.
Police investigations were continuing and a file would be prepared for a coroner's inquest.
The crash was one of two road fatalities at the weekend.
- NZPA
