Police Release Name of Woman Who Died In Bus Crash

Police have released the name of the woman who died in yesterday's bus crash on State Highway 94, on the Te Anau Milford Highway.

Forty-four year old, Kyungee Park, a Korean with Australian residency living in Sydney, died at the scene.

Her friend, Christine Kyungsuk Hwang, also a nurse from Sydney, suffered a cracked vertebrae and was taken to Southland Hospital. She remains in a stable condition in hospital. She is also a Korean citizen with Australian residency.

Three other Korean females were released yesterday from Southland and Dunedin Hospital with injuries which were not serious.

The driver and other passengers travelled through to Queenstown last night. The group were coming to the end of a five-day tour and will fly out of Christchurch on Sunday as scheduled.

Enquiries are continuing into the cause of the crash, Senior Sgt Bruce Terry said. However, icy conditions were a contributing factor, he said.

Senior Sgt Terry again warned drivers about the need to decrease speed and increase following distances in icy conditions.

"Icy conditions continue to exist on rural Southland roads again today and we urge drivers to take care. Black ice is very hard to identify so it's important to be careful on shaded corners, particularly in overcast conditions," he said.

The Isuzu Journey bus belonging to Grace Tours of Christchurch was moderately damaged in the crash.