Lions fan in court after crash death

A Lions fan will appear in court today following a fatal crash which happened just hours after he arrived on a long-haul flight.

Elizabeth Neels, 18, died in Waikato hospital on Saturday, two days after her car was hit head-on by a campervan driven by the tourist.

Ms Neels, a trainee chef, was driving home from Cambridge to Hamilton just before 8pm when her car was hit by a campervan.

Police confirmed that the driver of the campervan, who is from Wales and suffered minor injuries in the crash, had been charged with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing injury in relation to two passengers in the campervan.

He would appear in Hamilton District Court today.

The campervan driver had flown into Auckland from Britain on the day of the crash.

After spending the day in Auckland with his sister, he picked up two friends and they were heading to Christchurch for the Lions test.

"The two passengers were asleep in the back of the van when the crash happened. The driver told us he can't remember a thing," a police spokesman said.

Fatigue was a probable factor in the accident.

The driver's two companions were hurt, one of them requiring hospital treatment for leg injuries.

- NZPA