A 53-year-old grandmother was searching her home in the darkness to find her grandchildren when she suffered a heart attack.

Annika Kirsten, 23, was one of nine people to die in the skydiving plane crash at Fox Glacier on September 4.

Three Gisborne teenagers died after a two-vehicle smash on one of the country's worst accident blackspots last night.

An Australian skydiving instructor with a fear of flying was one of those killed in one of NZ's worst aviation disasters in 17 years.

Three people are dead following a collision between a car and a ute in the Waikato tonight.

KiwiRail is sending almost 300,000 litres of water to Christchurch, where around 15% of people remain without it.

Christchurch was "inevitably going to be brought to its knees" by an earthquake because of the nature of the ground it stands on, a scientist says.

"It's essentially a ghost town. You can see utter devastation," said Prime Minister John Key.

"It's a reminder to us all that in the case of natural disasters, it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when."

"It was like a giant had picked up our house and was just shaking it, shaking and shaking," said one resident.

A man has been charged with driving while disqualified after his car crashed into a couple in Christchurch last night, killing them.

The couple killed when a fleeing motorist ploughed into their car during a police pursuit last night have been named.

Police have been cleared of any wrongdoing over the death of a 22-year-old motorcyclist after a pursuit last year, the IPCA has found.

Two innocent people were killed after a car involved in a police chase ran a red light.

Two people are dead after a car smash involving a car being chased by police.