KEY POINTS:
The police dive squad last night found a body in a vehicle that had plunged into the Waioeka River.
The vehicle was found by a member of the public about 6km south of Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty just after 5am yesterday.
The Opotiki Fire Service was initially called but the Wellington-based police dive squad drove to the area and recovered the vehicle later in the day.
Part of State Highway 2 through the Waioeka Gorge was closed for about two hours.
The road is the main route between Opotiki and Gisborne and Inspector William Taylor of the police northern communications centre asked motorists to delay travel wherever possible.
Police, who confirmed at 4.45pm that someone had been found dead, were yet to determine if the crash occurred during the Queen's Birthday break, in which case the holiday road toll would rise to three.
In 2003 the Waioeka Gorge had one of the worst crash ratings in the country. Transit New Zealand has said that between 1999 and 2004 there were 80 crashes in the gorge, including 13 fatalities. But there had been a decline in the number of crashes since then.
Last year, a Transit proposal to establish an 80km/h zone through the gorge was suspended. The planned speed cut attracted considerable protest from drivers, the business and tourism sectors and transport operators, who viewed it as an over-reaction that would increase the district's isolation.
Transit has invested several million dollars in safety works in the gorge over the past few years, including extended sections of guard railings, more pullover bays, rockfall fences, sign upgrades and resurfacing to improve skid resistance.
The weekend death toll stood at two last night after a youth died in a police pursuit in Northland on Saturday.
The chase lasted just half a minute before the 18-year-old lost control of the vehicle on a bend about 2km north-east of Dargaville. The pursuit is being investigated by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
And on Sunday, a 24-year-old Wairoa man died after crashing his four-wheel-drive on State Highway 2, just before 6am.
Last year's Queen's Birthday road toll was five.
