Police cannot stop chasing offenders or the practice of driving off will become more common, the Police Minister says.

A traffic control worker has said a person had been hit by a bus but did not have anymore information.

An operation has begun to extinguish the fire coming from the vent shaft of the Pike River mine and cool the surrounding concrete pad, using water pumped up from a nearby creek.

A one-year-old baby is in a serious condition in Waikato Hospital after choking on a Twistie on Friday. The baby was brought in to Te Kuiti Hospital in the afternoon with choking and seizures after reportedly eating a "Twistie" snack.

Police are hunting a hit-and-driver who ran into a group of men fighting in central Hamilton overnight.

All police chases which led to a record 14 deaths this year were sparked by minor offences, rather than serious crimes, figures released to the Herald under the Official Information Act reveal.

The mother of a girl who helped to rescue a friend of Raphael Alualu, who drowned after leaping into a swimming hole on Auckland's North Shore, say she is very proud of what her daughter did.

It could take weeks for a GAG unit to put out a coal fire in the Pike River mine, police say.

Three people have been hit by buses on a Wellington street since it was made two-way on Sunday.