Tonga's deputy prime minister is focused on getting the schoolchildren involved in a Christmas Eve bus tragedy in New Zealand home.

A teen killed alongside two young friends in a "preventable" early morning crash has been remembered in an emotional tribute urging other drivers to take care.

The 11-year-old boy who died in the Christmas Eve bus crash was "quiet, kind and smiley" his sister says.

State Highway 2 between Gisborne and Wairoa will be closed at some point over the next two days to investigate at fatal bus crash.

Her smile always made him happy, says the widower of Gisborne bus crash victim.

Don't let the morning cloud fool you - it is set to be a fine Boxing Day for New Zealanders, with Central Otago tipped as the best place to be.

Tongan community mourns two visitors' deaths in bus crash after brakes failed to work, survivors say.

The two people killed in the Christmas Eve bus crash near Gisborne last night have been named, as the driver of the bus says the brakes failed.

Two people have died after a bus carrying school bands and their chaperons from Tonga went 100m off a bank and crashed south of Gisborne.

There was a record downpour in Auckland, a tornado in Taranaki and "quake lights" above Wellington. Oh, and 2016 was likely also New Zealand's hottest year on record.

A patient at Waikato Hospital says he was told he was a "faggot" by a doctor who arrived allegedly drunk in his room in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Final repairs were made this morning to high voltage lines which were brought down when a light plane crashed, killing the two people on board.

The teacher having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl was not fired from the school where he worked over his contact with the girl, an inquest heard.

Reiha McLelland's mother broke down in tears as inquest hears 13-year-old may have wanted parents to know about her plans to harm herself.

Brownie lived a life of abuse and agony. Finally, she was bashed about the head with a claw hammer and the open wounds were left to become maggot-infested, in one of the most severe and disturbing cases the SPCA has seen.

The man who added to the anxiety of Gisborne residents this week after warning of an earthquake insists he has "nothing to apologise for".

Reiha McLelland would be alive today if it were not for her "inappropriate" relationship with her intermediate school teacher, the inquest into her death has been told.

Now that Gisborne is out of the unexpected chaos and back to the usual Christmas mayhem, locals are reflecting on how it all started. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Tairawhiti Police, Civil Defence and Eastland Network called a press conference today, with some good news. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Tairawhiti Police, Civil Defence and Eastland Network called a press conference today, with some good news. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Reiha McLelland, 13, was under great pressure to keep secret her relationship with her former teacher Sam Back, an inquest has heard.

Power has been fully restored to more than 20,000 homes and businesses in Gisborne tonight, after a 33-hour outage.

Police will continue to have extra patrols on the beat in Tairawhiti tonight following three burglaries in 24 hours. The crimes

Power is expected to be restored before nightfall for Gisborne residents, the electricity company says.

As the bulk of the Gisborne district remains without power after plane crashed into high voltage lines, the residents of the region are mucking in.

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

Investigators will begin combing through the wreckage of a plane crash that killed two people and cut power to 20,000 homes in the Gisborne region.

The pilot who died in a plane crash near Gisborne today, George Anderson, has been described as "an extraordinary, funny, vibrant young man.

Long queues have formed at two petrol stations in Gisborne apparently driven by an earthquake predicted posted on Facebook.

Police have reached the site where a light plane has crashed near Gisborne today.