Schoolgirl's death lifts road toll to six

Photo / NZ Herald

An 11-year-old girl was killed last night in a two-car crash that took the weekend road toll to six.

From the same collision, at Cave in South Canterbury about 7pm, a 47-year-old man was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital with serious leg injuries.

On Saturday night, two men were killed in a crash south of Hamilton.

Shannon Hepi and the other victim, who had yet to be publicly named late last night, were travelling home with friends from a club rugby victory when their car and another vehicle collided in Kihikihi.

Four people were thrown from the car and Mr Hepi and the other man died at the scene.

Last night, friend Drew West, 24, who grew up in Raglan with Mr Hepi and his twin brother, Shanley, paid tribute to a sports fanatic who loved his whanau.

"He was an awesome guy who always had this big cheeky smile on his face and who loved his sports. He's one of those guys who knows everyone and everyone knows him."

Also on Saturday, two Auckland men died in a crash on the Desert Rd in the central North Island.

The pair, aged in their 20s, were travelling south when the car they were in and a truck coming in the other direction collided in icy conditions at 7.40am. The truck driver was unhurt.

About 8.15pm on Saturday, a motorcyclist died after crashing on Moorhouse Ave in the Christchurch suburb of Waltham. He was Stephen John Kinloch, 37, of Christchurch.

Witnesses reported seeing Mr Kinloch travelling the wrong way on Moorhouse Ave before he crashed near Madras St.

Meanwhile, a Christchurch woman died in hospital on Saturday, three weeks after a police pursuit ended in a crash that killed two others.

Karleane Marie Magon, 20, was a passenger in the pursued car, which smashed into a concrete pole on July 10. Shannon Smiler-O'Connor, 26, died at the scene and the driver, Tama Regan Dobson, 27, died in hospital last week.

- additional reporting by NZPA