Man charged over Lindis Pass crash

A man has been charged with careless driving causing death after a crash on Otago's Lindis Pass yesterday.

Police have not yet released the name of the man killed.

He was one of four Chinese occupants in a 4WD which left the road and crashed on State Highway 6, about 500m past the Omarama side of the 965m Lindis Pass summit, said Senior Sergeant Jason McCoy, of Oamaru police.

A woman was flown to Dunedin Hospital with head injuries, where she was last night in a stable condition.

Another passenger was treated locally for minor injuries.

It appeared the driver lost control of the vehicle on a bend, veered across the highway and ran into a roadside ditch, and then flipped, Mr McCoy told the Otago Daily Times.

All the occupants were tourists in their 20s, who were travelling from Cromwell to Mt Cook.

The man charged over the accident was due to appear in Oamaru District Court next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, police are still puzzling over a motorcycle crash just north of Pukeuri, near Oamaru, about 3.50am yesterday which killed the rider.

The 18-year-old from Morven, South Canterbury was travelling to work on a farm when the crash happened at the intersection of State Highway 1 and York St, Richmond.

A scene examination suggested another vehicle may have been involved, said Detective Sergeant Mike Ryder.

The vehicle had been reported as a "loud" car that was heard leaving at the time of the crash.

"We believe the occupants may know something happened ... we will not know until they contact us and we talk to them," he said.

Officers were yesterday investigating a car found burnt out on a road 7km from the crash site.

The two-door Nissan Skyline appeared to have crashed.

Mr Ryder said police had not ruled out a connection between the two crashes and were keen to hear from anyone with information about the car.

- NZPA