Fatal Crash - Hampden, Otago

About 4:45am on Thursday 31 March, Police attended at crash at Bagdad Creek just south of Hampden on State Highway 1.

The crash involved a northbound car and southbound truck (B Train).

As a result of impact, both vehicles left the highway, the car to the verge on the west, the truck left the highway to the East, crossing the armco barriers landing in Bagdad Creek. It was immediately engulfed in fire.

The driver of the truck, believed to be a Christchurch man in his 60's, died immediately.

The driver of the car, aged in his 20's, was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital where he died some hours later.

Conditions at the time of the crash were extremely heavy fog, which coupled with the darkness, made visibility very difficult. Many who regularly travel the road describe these as the worst visibility conditions they have encountered.

The conditions were such that the evacuating helicopter was unable to land near the scene. The driver was transferred by ambulance to Palmerston where they were met by the helicopter.

The Police investigation involves staff from the Serious Crash Unit, Forensic Photography, Dunedin, Hampden and Oamaru Police.

The position of the crash was such that no detours were available, and the road was closed until 9:00am resulting in a substantial backlog of traffic.

I realise the implications of having State Highway 1 closed for any length of time, and particularly when a detour is not available. My staff worked extremely hard to get the road open as quickly as possible. The reality is that our work could not be completed until we had some daylight to work by.

I would like to thank those who had their travel disrupted and had to wait, some for considerable time.

We have been unable to recover the truck today. This is a significant operation that will require not only heavy machinery, but also the re-routing of power, it that will take place tomorrow morning.

Once formal identification has been completed, and family members advised, the names of both who died will be released.