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.

A pensioner is recovering in hospital after crashing his motorbike.

Rapper Scribe has spoken of his family's relief that someone has been charged over the death of a "favourite" aunty.

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.

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.

A train hurtled off the tracks in a New York suburb, killing at least four people, injuring 67 and coming perilously close to plunging into a freezing river.

Two teenagers struck by cars in separate incidents near Rotorua over the weekend remain in critical conditions in hospital.

The sister of an Auckland woman killed by a drink driver said sending the man responsible to prison wouldn't bring back her sister.

A 9-year-old Tauranga boy has been flown to Auckland's Starship Hospital after falling off his bike and hitting his head.

A bus reversing over a gas main in Whangarei sparked mass evacuations in the suburb of Kamo this morning.

Part of the stadium that will host the World Cup opener in Brazil next year collapsed today, causing significant damage and killing two people, authorities said.

Police have released the names of the two people who were killed in a motor vehicle crash at Bankside, south of Dunsandel, on Monday.

The driver of a vehicle that crashed in Samoa - killing two Kiwi men - is set to face charges later this week.