A man is in hospital in a serious condition after a gas bottle explosion. St John ambulance South Island spokesman Ian Henderson said ambulance crews were called to the site at Maddisons Rd in Rolleston at 2.43pm.

Police today said Daniel Aretz, 37, died in the collision between his BMW G650 motorbike and a motorcyclist in a group travelling in the opposite direction.

Michael James Burnby, 44, died in Christchurch Hospital from injuries he suffered in Saturday's smash, police said this afternoon.

Canterbury Police and Canterbury District Health Board are concerned at the emergence of 25B-NBOMe, described as a powerful synthetic hallucinogen.

The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter has been called to transport the victims to hospital.

A fire communications spokesman said all emergency services were in attendance but no one was trapped in any of the vehicles.

A motorcyclist who crashed into a power pole in Upper Hutt today has died. The crash happened on Fergusson Drive, near St Patrick's College, about 2.20pm.

A chemical spill closed streets and caused hundreds of people to be evacuated in central Dunedin.

A child is dead after a crash on a rural highway near Tirau involving a car and a pedestrian.

The home that a primary school principal built for his family nearly 30 years ago burnt to the ground in a "tragic" blaze.

Police say they were searching for a car involved in a crash near Queenstown this morning because of complaints about erratic driving.

An officer activated their patrol car's flashing lights and siren, but the motorcyclist did not stop and sped away.

Murray Anthony Reid, 75, died after he was struck by a light truck at the intersection of SH2b and Meeanee Quay about 5pm yesterday.

A tourist staying in Hawkes Bay has been killed after he was hit by a truck at a notorious intersection in Napier last night.

Greymouth firefighters had little time to rest at the weekend, fielding nine calls from Friday afternoon until early today.

Swimmers spotted a shark moments after a seven-year-old girl was bitten in shallow waters in north Queensland.

Two men have died after a sudden turn in the weather caused waves to swamp their kayaks, tipping them into the icy cold water in Lake Tekapo this afternoon.

Firefighters have managed to successfully contain a large fire in the Auckland suburb of Glendene.

Two policemen who saved a man from a burning flat are being hailed as lifesavers. One of the rescuers required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

Every couple of months, on average, Craig Watts brings someone back to life.

Police have confirmed the boy who was critically injured on Friday at an Invercargill school was struck in the head by an electric fence post.

A 10-year-old schoolboy is in an induced coma after a "tragic incident" at an Invercargill school yesterday.

Five fire crews and an ambulance attended a suspected chemical spill Auckland International Airport last night.

An elderly man may have died after getting "excited" by big flames during a farm burn-off in rural Canterbury last year, a coroner has heard.

Emergency services were called at 2.55 pm and found the driver dead in the truck on their arrival.

Emergency crews were called to the accident on State Highway 1 in Piarere shortly before 8.30pm.

Police said the impact injured the vehicle's two occupants. The crash happened about 6.20pm near Te Horo.

Emergency services have flooded to a reported anthrax scare in Wellington this afternoon, only to find out it was a false alarm.

Crash investigators mapping out the scene of a fatal collision overnight had a close call today as a distracted speeding driver stopped just short of the cordon.

Police, fire and ambulance services were called to Maronan Road, near the Hinds River Bridge, shortly after 4.30pm after reports of a truck going over the bank.