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A section of a Canterbury road was closed and two people were injured, one of them seriously after a four-car accident.
Emergency services were called for the accident on Main South Rd (State Highway 1) near Burnham just before 2 p.m. Saturday.
A police spokeswoman said early reports suggested four cars were involved and that at least two people in separate vehicles were trapped.
He said the road was blocked and detours were being established along the Burnham and Thomsons roads.
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A rescue helicopter was also heading to the scene.
A spokeswoman for St John said two people were injured, one seriously and one moderately.
The seriously injured patient was airlifted by rescue helicopter to Christchurch Hospital, while the other was airlifted by ambulance, he said.
New Zealand Fire and Emergency spokeswoman Jill Higginson said three teams from Burnham, Dunsandel and Rolleston attended.
He said they rescued a person trapped inside a vehicle.
Many of the roads surrounding the scene of the accident were experiencing high levels of traffic congestion just after 2.30pm, according to traffic data from the New Zealand Transportation Agency.
Hours earlier, a person died after a two-car accident near Lake Tekapo Township.
Another person died and another suffered moderate injuries following a three-vehicle accident on State Highway 7 (Weka Pass Rd) in Hurunui at 12:10 p.m. Friday.
At least 23 people have died on Canterbury’s roads so far this year, 12 fewer than at the same time last year.
