Sombre music rang out as the band opened the service with a tribute to Sione Taumalolo, 11, and Talita Moimoi Fifita, 33, killed in the bus crash.

Crash survivors still weak but 'doing okay' after their flight from Gisborne.

Road toll now equal to last summer's following death of motorcyclist.

The surviving members of the Tongan band involved in last week's bus crash will fly to Auckland tomorrow, courtesy of Air New Zealand.

Revellers at this year's Rhythm and Vines festival are warned if they drive home expect to be breath-tested.

Plans to recover a bus that plunged down a bank, killing two, have been delayed until tomorrow.

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.

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.

What will start out as a cloudy morning for most of the country should clear as the Christmas day wears on, but the odd shower is in store too.

Wet weather today will clear throughout the country making way for a mainly fine Christmas weekend.

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.

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.

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.

More than 40,000 Gisborne residents have been asked to prepare for eight hours without power again this Sunday.

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.