New Year's Eve has got off to a disastrous start to two people who were injured in a dune buggy crash in Northland this evening.

Traffic on most main highways should be easing within the next hour or so after heavy congestion yesterday and earlier today.

Party-goers who attended an unauthorised event on Lake Wanaka's Ruby Island claim safety was paramount.

Uncle tells of the moment he found his 4-year-old autistic nephew floating in his neighbour's pool.

A father performed CPR on his son while waiting for emergency services, after the boy was found in a swimming pool.

Morgan Tait talks to emergency staff about crashes in which people are injured and sometimes killed.

Fire crews remained on watch last night near the remains of a forest blaze near Dunedin.

The fire on Signal Hill in Dunedin has been contained, but about 40 firefighters and three helicopters are continuing to fight the blaze.

Three young teenagers died in a high-speed car crash when their vehicle, driven by a 14-year-old, slammed into a tree.

The incident in south Wairarapa. brings the holiday road toll to four.

A 4-year-old boy has drowned after being found unresponsive in a pool in the east Auckland suburb of Beachlands.

A man has been airlifted to Wellington Hospital after a violent Christmas fight between a father and son.

One person has moderate to serious injuries after a car crash in rural South Canterbury this afternoon.

A crash that closed the Terrace Tunnel in Wellington has been cleared and the tunnel has re-opened, NZTA Wellington said.

A vehicle carrying gas bottles was driven into the headquarters of the Australian Christian Lobby in Canberra last night.

Surf lifeguards say they're increasingly being asked to respond to emergencies outside their core brief, and warning that it is simply not sustainable.

Nobody has been hurt in a gas explosion in a Wellington suburb.

Screaming mother pulls up at Sydney home with dying daughter in the back seat.

A chemical leak which closed part of Napier Port earlier today has now been contained.

Residents who were evacuated this afternoon have been allowed to return to their homes tonight.

A van has leaked battery acid over the Southern Motorway in Auckland.

The tight-knit family-owned workplace is today grieving for the loss of two valued colleagues and friends.

The father of George Anderson, whose body was removed from rural Hangaroa yesterday afternoon, was also a pilot.

BY Kiri GillespieA yacht has become stranded on a sandbank in Tauranga Harbour, near Pilot Bay. Photo/John Borren 121216jb04bop. A

A man and two female friends were lucky to all return to shore relatively unscathed after getting into trouble in choppy seas about a kilometre off Napier port.

The 23-year-old Takapuna woman who died in Indonesia is being remembered as a "vibrant, friendly, free spirit who loved life".

The girlfriend of a 19-year-old man who drowned in an Otago lake on Saturday has criticised the lack of signage on the shore.

A 500sqm vegetation fire near Uretiti Beach DOC campsite, just south of Ruakaka has been contained.

A 23-year-old Takapuna woman has been identified as the Kiwi who died when a Contiki minivan crashed off a cliff in South Lombok.

Police have confirmed a 19-year-old man has died while swimming in Kawarau River on Saturday.