A Chinese student who died in a Boxing Day smash in Southland has been named by police as the holiday road toll rises to seven.

Airbus has rushed two specialists to Jakarta to assist in the investigation of the disappeared A320 airliner operated by AirAsia, the budget carrier that rose from almost nothing in 2001 to be its biggest customer.

Police are still looking for a boat which was swamped while crossing the Manukau Bar in Auckland this afternoon, causing the deaths of two people.

A fatal crash involving a car and truck on State Highway 1 between Amberley and Kaikoura in Canterbury has taken the Christmas road toll to seven.

A surfer who died at a beach on Boxing Day has been described as an "inspiration" to other divers in his dive club.

A second person involved in a collision with a tanker truck in Bay of Plenty yesterday has died, bringing to holiday road toll to six.

Tributes are flowing for the brave pilot who made a split-second decision to slam into water instead of crash-landing among hundreds of beach-goers at Raglan.

Jane Watts said last goodbyes to her severely injured husband five times and could only have dreamed she would spend another Christmas with him.

The woman, in her 20s, fell down a steep cliff and into the river below, striking her head on the way down.

A man who died at a south Auckland beach yesterday was trying out a new surf board he received as a Christmas present.

Woman on board small plane that spluttered and crashed into Raglan harbour yesterday, narrowly avoiding hundreds of holidaymakers.

An elderly couple remain in a serious condition in Tauranga Hospital, following a crash in the Bay of Plenty yesterday.

A man has died and two others have been seriously injured in the first fatal crash of New Zealand's Christmas and New Year road toll period.

A man was trapped in a wreck for over an hour after a crash between a campervan and a car.

Family members of four people killed in a pre-Christmas crash have visited the scene and performed a traditional Asian blessing.

The two children killed in a Northland crash which also killed two men were high achievers who often won awards.

Almost a year after being hit while riding her bike, Samantha Robertson has swapped cycling for sheep riding.

Police are urging care on the roads over the holidays as a four-car crash leaves one person critically injured.

Driver of a 44-tonne logging truck was powerless to prevent a collision that killed four people and left a boy, 8, fighting for his life.

A baby was feared to be among the victims as six people died and eight were injured when a rubbish truck careered out of control and into crowds of Christmas shoppers.

A former airline boss claims the US shot down flight MH370 because the military feared it had been taken over by hackers.

A tramper had to be flown out of the Abel Tasman National Park overnight after injuring her leg in a fall.

Police are putting their traffic enforcement focus on holiday black spots to keep the annual road toll from surging above 300 deaths.

Gisborne harbourmaster Captain Charlie Jamieson has been killed while riding his motorcycle on the East Cape highway at Waihau Bay near Cape Runaway.

A man impaled himself on a tree while out for a run on Kawau Island on the weekend.

Mike Rankin counts himself lucky, despite his new truck plummeting over a bank at his Caversham home.

Dakota Leef is 8 years old, and a hero. His story of bravery - running to get help for his stricken grandfather - has a sad ending...

The family of a cyclist left a quadriplegic after riding into a sinkhole are considering legal action over a report into the horrific incident.

Every day before work Auckland dad Danny Mafi drives to his baby daughter's grave to "see her and to say a prayer".