Whanganui news in brief: Driver dies, Easter treat and more

The driver of a car died following a crash in Manutahi, South Taranaki, on Tuesday.

Driver dies

The driver of a car died following a crash in Manutahi, South Taranaki, on Tuesday. Emergency services were notified about 5.20pm of the two-vehicle crash involving a car and a truck on South Rd, between Upper Manutahi Rd and Ball Rd. An investigation into the circumstances of the crash is under way.

Eye on fire

Fire crews have been keeping an eye on a medium-sized grass fire in Longacre Rd, Okoia. The Whanganui Fire Brigade was alerted at 5.45pm on Tuesday to the 50m x 30m vegetation fire. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said the fire was quite deep-seated, so the Rural Fire Service revisited the site yesteday to check it was under control.

Power cut

Power was cut to 578 properties in the Whanganui suburb of Putiki after a powerline went down on Wikitoria Road around 7.30am on Wednesday. Power was restored later in the morning. It is understood a number of traffic lights across Whanganui were also without power on Wednesday morning. It is not known if this outage was related.

Easter treat

Whanganui Easter institution Hetty the Hen will be at the Whanganui District Library in Pukenamu Queen's Park daily from 3.30 to 4.30pm from Monday until Thursday. A $1 coin will buy a special penny to deposit into Hetty's chook house so she can lay a special Easter treat. There are allergy-friendly options if children tell Hetty in a loud voice that they need a special allergy-free egg.

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