One person died following a serious crash on Saturday 24 January on State Highway 1, Oakleigh, Whangārei.

Police and other emergency services responded to the crash around 2.20pm.

Sadly, one person died at the scene.

Three other people were transported to hospital, two in serious condition and one in moderate condition.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

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Issued by Police Media Centre. 

The recovery effort resumed at 10.30am after specialist monitoring equipment was brought in overnight.

Police receiving reports of counterfeit $50 and $100 banknotes are urging the public to be vigilant when handling cash.

Attributable to Marlborough Area Commander, Inspector Simon Feltham:

Police have arrested a person in relation to a kidnapping incident in Blenheim early yesterday morning.

On Saturday 24 January around 3am, Police were called to the incident on Lakings Road.

A 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged with kidnapping. He is due to appear in Blenheim District Court tomorrow [Monday 26 January].

As the matter is now before the courts, Police are unable to comment further.

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Police have made the difficult decision to postpone recovery efforts at Mount Maunganui for today.

The search area was evacuated about 11.50am, after a contractor driver noticed potential instability on the face of the slip, Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson says.

“The safety of the people working on the recovery is at the front of our mind, and the risk today is too significant to allow us to carry on.

“Families have been told of the decision and our commitment to resume work as soon as possible.”

Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson will speak to media regarding today’s recovery efforts

This will be held in Mount Maunganui at 4pm. Media are advised to RSVP to [email protected] for further details.

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Attribute to Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson

Recovery work at Mount Maunganui has been halted as a precaution this morning. At 11.50am, recovery efforts were paused after concerns from the grounds about a potential slip.

Geotechnical experts are assessing the area and teams will resume work as soon as they are cleared to do so.

Delays like this are frustrating but the safety of everyone supporting the recovery effort is paramount.

We will resume our search as soon as possible.

My love for Max is impossible to explain, no words are big enough to describe this love or loss. What I can say is from the moment I first looked at his beautiful blue eyes almost 16 years ago he had my whole heart, he was my sunshine. Max was an incredible, kind, and beautiful human being. He was a wonderful son, a devoted big brother, grandson, nephew, friend, teammate, and boyfriend. He was such a good kid, and he is so deeply loved.

The search for victims of Thursday’s landslide at Mount Maunganui is now moving into a recovery phase.

Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the operation was formally handed over to Police by Fire and Emergency New Zealand at 11:20am today.

“Every single person involved in this operation has been focused solely on saving the lives of the people under the slip. Search teams have been working through the slip layer by layer, but tragically it is now apparent that we will not be able to bring them home alive.

A media stand-up regarding weather-related incidents in Western Bay of Plenty will be held in Mount Maunganui at 12:30pm.

This will be held outside the surf club, at the corner of Marine Parade and Adams Avenue.

Police, alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Civil Defence will be present.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre