A Chinese man was charged with careless driving causing death after a man was killed in a single vehicle crash on the Lindis Pass yesterday afternoon, while an 18-year-old Morven man died in a motorcycle accident near Oamaru about 3.50am.
Police are trying to work out what caused the motorcycle crash just north of Pukeuri early yesterday and whether another vehicle was involved.
It occurred on State Highway 1 at the intersection with York St, Richmond.
A nearby resident reported hearing a crash but did not believe it was significant.
The crash was not reported until about 4.20am when a passing truck driver saw the green Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle on the side of the road at the intersection.
The highway was then closed for most of yesterday and traffic diverted.
Detective Sergeant Mike Ryder said the cause of the crash was a mystery.
A scene examination suggested another vehicle may have been involved.
The vehicle had been reported as a "loud" car that was heard leaving at the time of the crash.
"We believe the occupants may know something happened ... we will not know until they contact us and we talk to them," he said.
The dead man, whose name had not been released yesterday because next of kin had not been notified, was travelling to work on a farm.
Driving conditions were "abysmal", Det Sgt Ryder said.
It was misty, very dark and the road wet.
Police were yesterday investigating a car found burnt out in Horse Gully Rd, about 7km to 9km from the Richmond crash site.
The car, a two-door Nissan Skyline, appeared to have crashed.
Police were keen to speak to the owner or anyone who knew about the vehicle.
"We have had no report from anyone about a crash there ...
We are not discounting a link between the two crashes [in Horse Gully Rd and at Richmond]," Det Sgt Ryder said.
Police have appealed to people travelling on State Highway 1 at Richmond between 3.30am and 4.30am to contact them.
Police have not yet released the name of the Chinese man killed in the Lindis Pass.
He was one of four Chinese occupants in a 4WD vehicle which left the road and crashed on State Highway 6, about 500m past the Omarama side of the 965m Lindis Pass summit.
Senior Sergeant Jason McCoy, of Oamaru, said a serious crash investigation unit would travel from Oamaru to determine the cause of the accident.
A woman was flown to Dunedin Hospital by a HeliOtago helicopter.
The woman had head injuries, Snr Sgt McCoy said.
She was in a stable condition in a general ward late last night.
It appeared the driver lost control of the vehicle on a bend, veered across the highway and ran into a roadside ditch, and then flipped, Snr Sgt McCoy said.
Emergency services from Omarama, Otematata, Cromwell and Twizel rushed to assist the four survivors.
A second carload of four Chinese tourists was travelling behind the crashed car, Sergeant Mike Williams, of Cromwell, said.
A male occupant from the wrecked vehicle was taken by ambulance to the Cromwell Medical Centre and subsequently discharged.
All the tourists were in their 20s, and were travelling from Cromwell to Mt Cook.
The man charged with careless driving causing death would appear in the Oamaru District Court next Wednesday, Sgt Williams said.
