One person has been killed and another is fighting for their life after a crash on State Highway 65 at Maruia in the Buller District.
A police spokeswoman said two vehicles were involved in the incident, near Memorial Lane, which happened at 9.10pm.
One person had died, another was in a critical condition and four others had moderate to serious injuries, a police spokeswoman said.
The critically injured person had been flown to Christchurch Hospital and the other four were also taken to hospital.
The road is closed between O'Sullivan Bridge and Springs Junction and motorists should avoid travel in the area if they could as significant delays were expected for the next feew hours, the police spokeswoman said.
