A teenage boy is critical after the car he was in smashed into a tree after an aborted police chase in Auckland.

The mother of two children killed in a 2008 car crash is horrified a hand-made cross erected to remember her son's life, and a cross erected to remember the life of a friend who died in the same smash, have been vandalised.

Two boys are in hospital with serious injuries after a police chase.

Police piecing together the fatal last minutes of the sunken trawler Oyang 70 are hoping to finish interviews with the surviving crew this week.

The Rotorua Girls' High School ball went ahead without Kristi-Rae Ruri-Gardiner, who died in a car accident a month ago.

A car rocketed through a barrier like a "scud missile", plunging 30m into the Manawatu Gorge yesterday, killing the driver.

A police dive squad has recovered the body of a man from the Manawatu River following a crash earlier this morning.

A baby narrowly avoided being crushed by a truck which flipped in slippery conditions on Auckland's North Shore today.

Crew of the Amaltal Atlantis rubbed warmth into the bodies of the rescued fisherman and gave up their clothing to keep them warm.

Heavy security surrounded the arrival of survivors from the sinking of the Oyang 70, with three crew taken to hospital. Photo / Simon Baker

Several carriages of a passenger train fell into water after floods knocked out a bridge in China.

Families who lost loved ones in NZ's worst air crash nearly 31 years ago have been asked to register for a ballot for 80 seats on a RNZAF commemorative flight to Antarctica.

NZ will foot the bill to investigate the sinking of the Oyang 70 even though it was registered in Korea and sank in international waters.

The operator of a fishing ship is "shell-shocked" after three crew died and another three were lost, presumed dead, in waters off NZ.