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.

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

Jessica and Damon Ward today appealed for people to take five minutes to check all around their properties in case their "curious little boy" had got lost and taken shelter.

A police dive squad is again scouring the Waimata River as the search for missing four-year-old Gisborne boy Lucas Ward enters its third day.

The frantic mother of a Gisborne preschooler was last night clinging to the hope her boy is alive, more than 40 hours after he vanished.

Lucas Ward's family 'just turned around and he wasn't there', police say. Photo / NZPA

A truck and trailer unit carrying chemicals and general goods has rolled and blocked southland lanes on State Highway 1.

Euthanasia advocates say lawmakers need to address the issue of terminally ill people who try to take their own life.

The 18-year-old who fell from a central Auckland car parking building denies she had taken Ecstasy.

A 22-year-old is charged with stealing an ambulance he had called for his friend, who had fractured his skull and vertebrae after falling 4m onto concrete.

Lying upside down with her scalp gashed open and an arm pinned under her friend's car, 15-year-old Zoe Hendriks came within minutes of not getting the help she so seriously needed.

A mother accused of murdering her baby said she felt "incapable" of looking after her children.