A heavy backlog of traffic is expected this morning as a major route to Auckland Airport is closed following the fatal crash of a lorry overnight.

The 7-year-old mauled by dogs in Murupara has had a 10-hour operation to begin to repair the facial wounds she received during the attack.

A Civil Aviation Authority inquiry is under way this afternoon into a fatal helicopter crash in a forestry block near Gisborne this morning in which a 53-year-old local man died.

Motorcyclist Ross Blair is not just another name in the death notices. He was a farmer with a loving wife and four children.

The father of a promising young jockey, who was in an induced coma after falling on her head during a race, is confident his daughter will recover.

Surfers rescued two men who were thrown from their boat while trying to enter the Buller River off Carters Beach, Westport.

An East Coast family whose children have run free in the rugged outdoors for generations say they need to change.

A teenager drowned swimming across an artificial lake after seeing his mates having fun on the other side.

Kronos Gosney was an active and cheery boy who liked nothing better than splashing about in the water and watching Barney the dinosaur on TV.

A 59-year-old motorcyclist has died in an accident at the annual Cliffhanger Hillclimb event in Carterton today.

A driver is dead after a fatal crash at Hampton Downs during a vintage car event today.

A motorcycle rider has died in a crash with a truck in Waikato today.

Two students suffered facial burns yesterday when a gas oven at AUT's cooking school exploded.

If it was harder for young people to get a driver's licence, families like the Roberts would not have to live every day in anguish.

A principal says her college will keep promoting safety messages to young people after seven teenagers were involved in a serious crash.

Neurologists say seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is unlikely to make a full recovery from a devastating head injury.

An Australian tourist who suffered spinal injuries during a white water rafting trip had to be winched out of a gorge on a stretcher.

As Patrick Veal performed CPR on his good mate Kenny Jenkins, he feared the 23-year-old was going to die on the side of the road.

It was an exhausting 18-hour journey: First their train was involved in a fatal collision with a truck, then it was delayed by a fire. But passengers coped 'amazingly'.

Two men suffered broken bones when a small plane crashed into a paddock north of Christchurch yesterday.

A truck driver who died after his vehicle collided with a train had earlier told a colleague how he was looking forward to playing with his children at the end of the day.

Recently promoted Luke MacKenzie was not supposed to be on the early morning shift at Air NZ and was driving to work to cover for a colleague who had called in sick.