A coroner's inquest today heard from a senior search and rescue expert who described the "chaos" at the disaster site when he arrived two hours after the building's collapse.

The inquest into the CTV deaths has heard of frustrations caused by delays and chaos in the hours after the catastrophe.

A Martinborough volunteer firefighter is in intensive care battling for his life after going to the aid of a group of young women.

A Papamoa man who was caught in a massive chip-heater hot-water tank explosion has emerged from a coma and is "doing really well" says his wife.

Engineers will today pack explosives into huge boulders that have closed Milford Rd in Fiordland, as residents face their fifth day cut off.

An independent weatherman has hit out at the MetService, claiming it was too slow to issue a severe weather warning for Auckland at the weekend.

A 29-year-old farmhand has today pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in July - but the man and his victim's identities remain suppressed.

The severed foot of a man involved in a grisly accident at the Port of Tauranga this morning was transferred with him to hospital.

Emergency services responded rapidly and worked well together during the February 22 earthquake in Christchurch last year, an independent review has concluded.