The second death in two years at a popular marine reserve has prompted calls for lifeguard patrols.

Police hope to cap the vent shaft at Pike River mine tomorrow after weather conditions at the site prevented the operation from going ahead today.

ACC's medical advisers are not being held properly accountable, a lawyer says.

The majority of miners remaining at Pike River Coal mine look set to lose their jobs, as officials today told workers they were going to proceed with redundancies three weeks after a series of explosions killed 29 workers inside the mine.

One of the men injured in an electrical explosion in west Auckland today is about to be discharged from hospital, while the other remains in hospital with minor burns to one of his hands.

Two men working on an underground cable have been injured in an electrical explosion in west Auckland, one of them seriously.

A lawyer has asked for an investigation into a group of doctors he says ACC uses to reject claims due to pre-injury "degenerative" conditions.

A driver ran from his car sobbing and yelling: "I checked the road, I checked and it was clear," witnesses say.

A five car pile-up on Auckland's Dominion Road this morning was later followed by a fatal car-motorcycle crash.