Motorcyclists die in crash
Police has released the names of the two motorcyclists that died when their motorcycles were involved in a crash with a car on the Lindis Pass yesterday.
They are Grant John Roberts, aged 43 years of Timaru and Dennis Michael Pederson, aged 54 years of Tauranga.
Two men, believed to be gang members, died when their motorcycles were involved in a crash with a car on the Lindis Pass yesterday.
A 26-year-old Timaru woman, who was a pillion passenger, was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital by the Otago Regional Rescue helicopter and was in a critical condition last night.
The second woman, the sole occupant of the Nissan car, was in a satisfactory condition in hospital.
Central Otago police sub area commander Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk said the two men were confirmed dead at the scene.
Emergency services were called to the accident at 2.16pm on State Highway 8, 19km north of Tarras in Central Otago.
No further details about the the crash were available last night, Mr Kerrisk said.
"It's very early days ... and I don't want to speculate on any cause. We're still contacting next-of-kin, so we won't be releasing any names yet."
The two men, who were on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, were in a group travelling north, while the car driver was south-bound.
Mr Kerrisk said some of the group of motorcyclists had witnessed the accident and they were being interviewed by police at Tarras yesterday.
Victim Support volunteers were on hand to assist those involved.
Fire, police and ambulance personnel from Central Otago and the Waitaki district attended the crash and the road was closed for several hours.
