Man found dead after SUV hits building - medical event suspected

Police had cordons in place for some time Friday morning as they began an inquiry into a vehicle crash in which a man was found deceased inside an SUV that left the road and hit a building in Awapuni Rd near the speedway some time overnight Thursday-Friday. Photo / Murray Robertson

Police are investigating after a man was found dead inside a vehicle which crashed into a building off State Highway 35 near Gisborne on Friday morning.

Police and other emergency services responded to the incident on Awapuni Rd near the speedway about 7am Friday.

The man in the vehicle was believed to have been aged in his 60s.

“The SUV had gone off the road sometime during the night and run into a concrete block wall of the Sonic Surf Craft building near Commerce Place, not far from the speedway,” an emergency services spokesman said.

“The crashed vehicle was found by workers at the surf craft factory when they arrived for work.”

St John attended and the ambulance officers declared the man dead at the scene.

“It is suspected the man had suffered some sort of medical event prior to the crash,” an ambulance spokesman said.

A senior firefighter said the vehicle sustained considerable frontal damage, but the building sustained only minimal damage.

Police set up road blocks at Aerodrome Rd and Pacific St while they carried out a scene investigation as part of a Serious Crash Inquiry.

The cordons were there for a couple of hours, with diversions in place.