A fleeing driver was taken to hospital after crashing near central Auckland.

The death of a man hurt in a Waikato crash has brought the holiday road toll to 10. A 20-year-old died of his injuries about 4pm in Waikato Hospital. A car he was in yesterday hit a van carrying five disabled children on SH1.

The holiday road toll has risen to nine following a crash involving two motorcycles on the Coromandel peninsula this afternoon.

The holiday road toll now stands at eight following a crash in Opotiki in the eastern Bay of Plenty this evening in which a man died after being flung through the windscreen of a car.

Speed, alcohol and driver fatigue all appear to have been contributing factors in a crash on SH1 at Horotiu, north of Hamilton, today that has left two young men fighting for their lives.

Three boaties who spent the night in Cook Strait could have been rescued much sooner.

The holiday road toll has risen to six after a fatal crash on the Napier-Taupo highway this afternoon.

Police are investigating after an 8-year-old died from injuries sustained when he fell into a geothermal hot pool in the city. They are keen to speak with anyone who witnessed the incident.

A senior member of Whakatane's Maori university, Mark Laws, drowned yesterday at the East Cape settlement of Te Kaha.

Both of the men missing after their small boat capsized off Wellington's south coast last night have been found alive.