Woman rescued from raging river

An aerial view looking down the Wairau Rive. Photo / Derek Watts

A Marlborough woman was rescued by a human chain after a chunk of road she was walking on collapsed into the raging Wairau River this morning.

Local farmer Chris Harmer told NZPA the woman and a companion were walking along Northbank Road next to the flooded river at about 9am, when it "just flopped in".

The woman was swept about 50 metres before a group of people formed a human chain and managed to drag her out.

"It was just lucky that she stayed close to the bank and her friends were able to just run down beside her and then whip her out."

Mr Harmer said she was very lucky to survive, as she was in heavy clothing which was sodden, and unlikely to have escaped by herself. She did not need hospital treatment -- "a bit of a shower and she was alright".

The woman had been 2m away from the river when the road collapsed, and several more metres disappeared immediately afterwards.

"The whole road collapsed into the river and they were lucky that only one of them went into the river."

There has been heavy rain, causing flooding in the Canvastown and Rai Valley region of Marlborough yesterday, where most rivers are running high

About 200 metres of the same road also collapsed last night, cutting seven families off, the Marlborough Express reported.

- NZPA