Number of people in Te Anau-Milford Highway crash unknown

Plumes of thick black smoke are reaching high into the sky. Photo / Facebook

A man lay trapped, screaming for help in the crushed wreck of his car after it and a bus collided on a popular tourist route. Minutes later, the car burst into flames, with the man still inside.

Police say no one could be pulled from the car, and aside from the man pleading for help, they have no idea how many others were in the vehicle after the collision on the Te Anau-Milford Highway in Southland.

Photos from the scene show the car was overturned and completely crushed by the bus. The bus door was wedged shut and the 16 passengers, all believed to be from Korea, were helped out of a window.

Later photos show plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the sky, with the bus and car completely engulfed in flames. Miraculously, all the bus passengers, the driver and tour guide appear to have escaped out a window before the fire.

Invercargill's Jakob Frazer, 17, arrived with a colleague moments after the crash happened. He said he saw an arm coming out of the passenger door, and a man was screaming for help.

He helped those around him before trying to help the car's driver. Frazer believed the occupant was male and that he may have been foreign, as he had an accent.

When he arrived the car and bus were not on fire. But after about 10 minutes smoke started coming from the car. Attempts to put out the fire with an extinguisher were unsuccessful and within minutes car and bus were in flames, he said.

Police could not confirm last night how many people were in the car or who they might be. Because of the extent of the fire they were unable to search the car.

The road reopened last night.

Fire Service southern communications centre shift manager Riwai Grace said police, ambulance staff and firefighters from the Te Anau brigade helped at the scene, he said.

The crash happened on State Highway 94, Te Anau Downs, at 2.55pm.

Police said the injured were taken to a medical centre in Te Anau and the bus passengers were picked up by other coach operators.

Explorer Tourlines owner Stephen Cook confirmed one of his buses was involved in the crash and said all 16 passengers plus the tour guide and driver had made it off safely.

The tourists were from Korea. The bus was returning to Queenstown from Milford Sound when the crash happened.

The driver had been with the company for four years. Cook was unable to comment on what caused the crash.

"The matter is in the hands of police now. As it develops we will know what happens, but we don't actually know what happened.

"I'm sorry we just don't have any information - it's a very recent occurrence."

Te Anau Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Graeme Moffat said the crash scene was 32 kilometres from Te Anau and the fire was "well-involved" by the time they reached wreckage.

After putting out the fire the serious crash unit did their investigation after which the fire service helped with the removal of the wreckage last night.

A crane and flatbed truck came from Invercargill to transport the wrecked bus and car, Moffat said.

It was a long day for everyone affected, from the firefighters to travellers delayed by the crash.

"There was about 500 vehicles backed up ... towards Milford."