A toddler involved in a crash which killed his mother and brother yesterday could also have been killed, had it not been for the heroic actions of members of the public, police say.

A young Tongan family who moved to the West Coast for the promise of a better life have been torn apart just days before Christmas.

Searchers have found the body of the helicopter pilot whose aircraft crashed yesterday in steep terrain near the start of the Milford Track.

An Invercargill Police search and rescue (SAR) team has arrived in Te Anau to help with the recovery operation.

A 4-year-old boy has died after being hit by a light truck in rural South Auckland last night.

An experienced helicopter pilot is feared to have died in a crash yesterday near the Lake Te Anau starting point of the Milford Track.

A bar manager leapt for his life as a speeding car smashed into the spot where he had been standing outside a bar early yesterday.

A 65-year-old man has died after a tractor accident on the West Coast today.

Judge Jane Farish was doubtless on the mark when she said yesterday that the likelihood of a prosecution of Peter Whittall was "extremely low" and the case may never have reached trial.

The husband of a woman who died when their car plunged into a creek fought to control the car as she became unresponsive at the wheel moments before the fatal crash.

Forensic scientists have made "some progress" towards identifying the object which struck and killed motorist Rutger Hale near Lake Hawea seven weeks ago, police say.

A 17-year-old boy killed this week on a Hastings orchard was a bright, ambitious kid with it "all in front of him" just days after finishing his final year at high school.

Drivers who crash on open roads during the Christmas and New Year holidays are more likely to be injured than at other times of the year.

Maryanne Butler-Finlay lost her husband Charles Finlay in a forestry accident in July. His was the seventh forestry-related death of the year and his family hoped he would be the last.

A woman has died after her car crashed into a horse on a rural road near Christchurch.

A driver has been thrown from his truck when it rolled south of Auckland.

A truck driver whose vehicle was in a collision with a freight train at Kumeu yesterday was in a critical but stable condition in Auckland City Hospital last night after surgery.

Union official: Engineer caught himself nodding at controls before deadly NYC train derailment.

The distraught father of a 9-year-old boy who drowned when their car rolled into a dredge pond told those who came to his aid "my babies, I couldn't get them out''.

Labour Minister Simon Bridges says prosecutions are "very likely" for forestry owners who have breached safety standards.

A train that derailed in New York City, killing four people, was hurtling at 82mph (132km/h) as it approached a 30mph (48km/h) zone.

An elderly couple 'blinded' by a lightning strike on their home believe they had a lucky escape - they'd hung up the phone moments before it burst into flames.

The introduction of a corporate manslaughter law to deal with work-related deaths in New Zealand is "unlikely", says Prime Minister John Key.