An Auckland man and his daughter who helped rescue a "totally unprepared" German tourist who'd slipped down Mt Ruapehu believes the young man would have died.

A night out in Samoa ended in tragedy for two Kiwi men who were killed in a car accident.

Wanja Drees cried out in pain for 20 minutes before he realised help wasn't coming. He was stuck on Mt Ruapehu with a broken leg after tumbling 100m.

Friends of the four dead people say it was a miracle the collision over Auckland killed no one else.

Rutger Hale did not particularly like hot, sunny days. So cool, breezy conditions at Lake Hawea yesterday were perfect for his memorial service.

A teenager who fell 100m down Mt Ruapehu might have died if not for his quick thinking - and shoe laces.

A man is dead after a wall fell on him as he worked in his Blenheim garden yesterday.

A person is dead after a stone wall fell on them in Blenheim this afternoon.

The third anniversary of the Pike River mining tragedy will be marked today with a minute's silence and the laying of a wreath.

A woman who fell 15 metres from Lion Rock at Piha yesterday was outside the safety barriers, emergency services say.

Passengers on a steam train excursion from Paekakariki to Wanganui got more than a gentle ride on a piece of history when a car crashed and rolled on to the track a few hundred metres in front of them.

A man is dead after his car rolled multiple times yesterday.

A little boy lucky to survive a freak playground accident will soon be heading home.

A drunk driver breezed through a police breath test despite being almost four times over the drink-drive limit - and was killed in a crash shortly afterwards.

A teenager had just learned that a friend was on life support in hospital when he was struck by a car and killed just before Christmas last year, a coroner has found.

Police are looking for youths seen throwing rocks off a motorway overbridge at cars, as forensic tests get underway on an object that killed driver Rutger Hale.

Motorists are being told to expect delays around Matamata this morning after a heavy truck and trailer rolled in the early hours of this morning.

Concern over safety of Kmart bicycle after wheel buckles, tossing woman in front of car

A Far North marae hit by fire this week had been the subject of infighting over a new building on the site, a marae leader says.

A motorcyclist died when a vehicle collided with a group of bikers near Rotorua yesterday afternoon.

When Elliot Ikilei spotted a small car broken down on the fast lane of a busy Auckland motorway, he knew he had to help get its occupants out fast.

A Swedish woman working in New Zealand as a horse trainer has been sentenced to community work for causing a crash that killed a 50-year-old motorcyclist.