A man who died in hospital nine days after being thrown from a ute in Raglan on Boxing Day has been named by police.

A report of a light plane crash at a Northland beach was a false alarm.

A logging truck driver suffered serious leg injuries when he fell from his truck this morning.

The holiday road toll has climbed to 16 after a passenger injured in a crash on Boxing Day died in hospital this morning.

An elderly Southland man who suffered burns to most of his body in a house fire on Friday night has died in hospital, police have said today.

Police say alcohol and speed are coming through as significant contributors to the holiday road.

New Zealand is being asked to introduce safety standards for blinds to stop children being hurt or even killed in the cords.

The family of a New Zealander who died trying to save a dive boat during a storm is travelling to the California island he called home.

A young man who died trying to jump from a light pole into a Gisborne swimming pool had spent the afternoon playing football and enjoying a few drinks with friends.

The search area was widened because surveillance planes could not see tiny fragments of wreckage in choppy waters. And families, once again, did not know how or why their loved ones died.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

A pensioner has been rescued from Abel Tasman National Park after falling and injuring her hip.

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.