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Sam Sherwood, Jonathan Guildford and Steven Walton05:00, Jun 05 2021
9-11 minutes
CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF
Four people died when a truck and a van collided at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads near Ashburton shortly before 10am on Friday.
A Christchurch man was driving a group of country music fans to the Gold Guitar Awards festival when their van was hit side-on by a truck on a rural Canterbury road and shunted into a power pole.
The collision left four people from the van dead, including driver Avinash Avinesh Chand, 31, who was planning on Monday to celebrate his older brother’s birthday.
The driver of the truck was injured, though not badly, and was taken to hospital for treatment.
The crash happened at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads in Elgin near Ashburton shortly before 10am on Friday.
supplied
Avinash Avinesh Chand, 31, who died in a crash near Ashburton.
READ MORE:
* Man dies in early-morning crash at busy Christchurch intersection
* Motorist dead after crash between truck and car closes busy North Canterbury road
* Person seriously injured after truck rolls, causing delays on Otago highway
Police believe the van was driven through the controlled junction, which had stop signs on both sides, in a “moment of carelessness”.
Chand, one of four siblings, was the co-owner of tour company Identity Tours Ltd, and worked with disabled people.
His brother, Visal Chand, told Stuff he learned of the incident through another brother who was visited by police at work and who rang him immediately.
1 NEWS
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown reacts to the crash that took four lives.
“We haven't had anything like this in our family, so I just said, 'Hey, are you kidding me? But because he was in tears and half his voice was cutting off, I told him not to cry and I [would] just go to see if it's right,” he said.
“I started typing it in and finding it out on Google, I called the Ashburton police station, I got through to the national number and I asked them if anyone could get in touch with me ASAP.”
Eventually, the reality of the situation kicked in.
“I burst into tears, I was in shock, a numbness in my head, I didn't know what to do.
Visal described his brother as a “sweet person” who had moved to New Zealand over 10 years ago from Fiji, and was well known among Christchurch's Fijian community.
CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
A van witnesses say drove through a controlled intersection in rural Ashburton was struck by a truck, killing four people.
When he first moved to the country he worked on a dairy farm in Rakaia, and after two years he met a couple who ran a special charter service for a tour company for people with special needs, before ending up with his current tour company.
“His passion was he always wanted to meet those people with special needs. His passion was to make them happy in their lives,” Visal said.
“My brother was a very friendly man, cheeky, he was a sweetheart and very caring.
“He was just a blessing to his family and the community and everywhere that he went and the people he met. He was a big blessing in their life, he made a difference in everybody's life that he met.”
CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
The van was shunted into a power pole, snapping it in half.
He last spoke with his brother two days ago as they discussed another brother’s birthday which is on Saturday. They were planning a party for Monday as Chand was going to be away at the music festival.
“He was very, very excited,” Visal recalled, saying his parents were “totally heartbroken”.
“They’re shattered. It's going to take a while for them to come to terms.”
Do you know more? Email [email protected]
Chand’s business partner, Douglas Mack, said the company’s thoughts were with the families involved.
“What happened today has been a tragic shock for everyone.”
Three people inside Chand’s van died at the scene, while a fourth died at Ashburton Hospital. Two more passengers were taken to hospital, one critically and the other with serious injuries.
The passengers are believed to be from the North Island, and Chand was taking them to the three-day country music festival in Gore, which started on Friday.
Neighbours who rushed out described being confronted with a scene of carnage, debris from the mangled vehicle strewn across the road.
Braving damaged power lines that dangled from overhead, one woman rushed to the stricken van to reach through the broken windows to hold the hands of the trapped survivors and offer them comfort.
Mid-South Canterbury area commander Inspector David Gaskin described the incident as an “absolute tragedy”, and said it appeared a “moment's inattention” had caused the tragedy.
“I just urge people to be careful, to take their time, and remember that tomorrow the sun will come up and make sure you get there and see it.”
The recent flooding and heavy rain in the area were not a factor.
The tragedy comes after a week of devastation for Ashburton and Canterbury, which saw properties and farms devastated by serious flooding after torrential downpours last weekend.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/Stuff
Four people died after a truck and a van collided at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads in Elgin, near Ashburton.
One of the first people on the scene of the crash, a nearby resident who declined to be named, said she heard a bang and rushed to the intersection.
“I just went to the van, and I could see that there were a few deceased. All I did was stand there with my arms in the window to comfort the other two that were talking until the emergency services got there and got them out,” she said.
“They just held my arms and I just continually kept talking to them and told them we knew that there was somebody on the way.”
When she arrived there were a couple of other cars, but no-one would go near the van.
“There was a power line hanging down ... but ... you've got to do it, don't you? You'd hope somebody else would do it for your family if anything like that ever happened.”
A Wakanui Rd resident said they had their chainsaw going when they heard a “horrendous bang”.
The man grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed over to help. When he arrived he saw a van that appeared to have been “shunted down the road”.
He said the scene was “pretty devastating”, and believed those in the van were middle-aged.
Another neighbour, Gerald Dolan said the crash was so loud it caused his house to vibrate, and sounded like a bomb.
Dolan said it appeared a truck, which had an aluminium bulk bin on the back, was travelling along Wakanui Rd when it smashed into the side of a van.
“When I went out the van was clean through the power pole and the truck was stuck in the side of the van and it had pushed it about 30 metres up the road.”
Dolan, who has lived in the area for 11 years, said he had been saying for years it was a matter of time before there was a serious crash at the intersection.
“I watch these vehicles come across Cochranes Rd and they just don't give way, they go straight across.”
Dolan said he also had problems with the lack of road markings at the intersection. “[Motorists] come down Cochranes Rd so fast sometimes ... they just ignore the stop sign.”
Gaskin said the crash was a “tragedy” for four families and the driver of the truck who would be “feeling it for a long time”, he said.
“Ashburton and the Mid-Canterbury area have suffered a number of these type of accidents. It's up to all of us to do our bit, and hopefully we'll all get home.”
In that time it received four reports relating to sign damage, the most recent in December 2019, but all had been fixed.
GOOGLE MAPS/SUPPLIED
There has only been one other crash at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads since January 2000, which resulted in no injuries, according to NZTA crash data. (File photo).
“It's just such tragic news to go on top of what we have been through over the last week,” Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said.
“Coming to today we thought we had gone through it all, and then to hear that four people died in a car accident and dealing with that sort of stuff on top of everything else...”
According to Waka Kotahi/NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) crash data, there have been at least 16 other fatal crashes on Canterbury roads so far this year, at least 138 nationally.
There has only been one other crash at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads since January 2000, which resulted in no injuries, according to NZTA crash data.
Earlier on Friday, a motorcyclist died in a collision at the intersection of Riccarton Rd and Hansons Ln in Upper Riccarton, Christchurch.
The Press and Stuff are as much a part of Canterbury as a yawning nor’west arch. For 160 years our reporters have championed this community, fought in your corner, and represented the uncrushable spirit of Ōtautahi Christchurch.
Horror crash on way to Gold Guitar country music festival claims four lives
Sam Sherwood, Jonathan Guildford and Steven Walton05:00, Jun 05 2021
9-11 minutes
CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF
Four people died when a truck and a van collided at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads near Ashburton shortly before 10am on Friday.
A Christchurch man was driving a group of country music fans to the Gold Guitar Awards festival when their van was hit side-on by a truck on a rural Canterbury road and shunted into a power pole.
The collision left four people from the van dead, including driver Avinash Avinesh Chand, 31, who was planning on Monday to celebrate his older brother’s birthday.
The driver of the truck was injured, though not badly, and was taken to hospital for treatment.
The crash happened at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads in Elgin near Ashburton shortly before 10am on Friday.
supplied
Avinash Avinesh Chand, 31, who died in a crash near Ashburton.
READ MORE:
* Man dies in early-morning crash at busy Christchurch intersection
* Motorist dead after crash between truck and car closes busy North Canterbury road
* Person seriously injured after truck rolls, causing delays on Otago highway
Police believe the van was driven through the controlled junction, which had stop signs on both sides, in a “moment of carelessness”.
Chand, one of four siblings, was the co-owner of tour company Identity Tours Ltd, and worked with disabled people.
His brother, Visal Chand, told Stuff he learned of the incident through another brother who was visited by police at work and who rang him immediately.
1 NEWS
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown reacts to the crash that took four lives.
“We haven't had anything like this in our family, so I just said, 'Hey, are you kidding me? But because he was in tears and half his voice was cutting off, I told him not to cry and I [would] just go to see if it's right,” he said.
“I started typing it in and finding it out on Google, I called the Ashburton police station, I got through to the national number and I asked them if anyone could get in touch with me ASAP.”
Eventually, the reality of the situation kicked in.
“I burst into tears, I was in shock, a numbness in my head, I didn't know what to do.
Visal described his brother as a “sweet person” who had moved to New Zealand over 10 years ago from Fiji, and was well known among Christchurch's Fijian community.
CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
A van witnesses say drove through a controlled intersection in rural Ashburton was struck by a truck, killing four people.
When he first moved to the country he worked on a dairy farm in Rakaia, and after two years he met a couple who ran a special charter service for a tour company for people with special needs, before ending up with his current tour company.
“His passion was he always wanted to meet those people with special needs. His passion was to make them happy in their lives,” Visal said.
“My brother was a very friendly man, cheeky, he was a sweetheart and very caring.
“He was just a blessing to his family and the community and everywhere that he went and the people he met. He was a big blessing in their life, he made a difference in everybody's life that he met.”
CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
The van was shunted into a power pole, snapping it in half.
He last spoke with his brother two days ago as they discussed another brother’s birthday which is on Saturday. They were planning a party for Monday as Chand was going to be away at the music festival.
“He was very, very excited,” Visal recalled, saying his parents were “totally heartbroken”.
“They’re shattered. It's going to take a while for them to come to terms.”
Do you know more? Email [email protected]
Chand’s business partner, Douglas Mack, said the company’s thoughts were with the families involved.
“What happened today has been a tragic shock for everyone.”
Three people inside Chand’s van died at the scene, while a fourth died at Ashburton Hospital. Two more passengers were taken to hospital, one critically and the other with serious injuries.
The passengers are believed to be from the North Island, and Chand was taking them to the three-day country music festival in Gore, which started on Friday.
Neighbours who rushed out described being confronted with a scene of carnage, debris from the mangled vehicle strewn across the road.
Braving damaged power lines that dangled from overhead, one woman rushed to the stricken van to reach through the broken windows to hold the hands of the trapped survivors and offer them comfort.
Mid-South Canterbury area commander Inspector David Gaskin described the incident as an “absolute tragedy”, and said it appeared a “moment's inattention” had caused the tragedy.
“I just urge people to be careful, to take their time, and remember that tomorrow the sun will come up and make sure you get there and see it.”
The recent flooding and heavy rain in the area were not a factor.
The tragedy comes after a week of devastation for Ashburton and Canterbury, which saw properties and farms devastated by serious flooding after torrential downpours last weekend.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/Stuff
Four people died after a truck and a van collided at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads in Elgin, near Ashburton.
One of the first people on the scene of the crash, a nearby resident who declined to be named, said she heard a bang and rushed to the intersection.
“I just went to the van, and I could see that there were a few deceased. All I did was stand there with my arms in the window to comfort the other two that were talking until the emergency services got there and got them out,” she said.
“They just held my arms and I just continually kept talking to them and told them we knew that there was somebody on the way.”
When she arrived there were a couple of other cars, but no-one would go near the van.
“There was a power line hanging down ... but ... you've got to do it, don't you? You'd hope somebody else would do it for your family if anything like that ever happened.”
A Wakanui Rd resident said they had their chainsaw going when they heard a “horrendous bang”.
The man grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed over to help. When he arrived he saw a van that appeared to have been “shunted down the road”.
He said the scene was “pretty devastating”, and believed those in the van were middle-aged.
Another neighbour, Gerald Dolan said the crash was so loud it caused his house to vibrate, and sounded like a bomb.
Dolan said it appeared a truck, which had an aluminium bulk bin on the back, was travelling along Wakanui Rd when it smashed into the side of a van.
“When I went out the van was clean through the power pole and the truck was stuck in the side of the van and it had pushed it about 30 metres up the road.”
Dolan, who has lived in the area for 11 years, said he had been saying for years it was a matter of time before there was a serious crash at the intersection.
“I watch these vehicles come across Cochranes Rd and they just don't give way, they go straight across.”
Dolan said he also had problems with the lack of road markings at the intersection. “[Motorists] come down Cochranes Rd so fast sometimes ... they just ignore the stop sign.”
Gaskin said the crash was a “tragedy” for four families and the driver of the truck who would be “feeling it for a long time”, he said.
“Ashburton and the Mid-Canterbury area have suffered a number of these type of accidents. It's up to all of us to do our bit, and hopefully we'll all get home.”
In that time it received four reports relating to sign damage, the most recent in December 2019, but all had been fixed.
GOOGLE MAPS/SUPPLIED
There has only been one other crash at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads since January 2000, which resulted in no injuries, according to NZTA crash data. (File photo).
“It's just such tragic news to go on top of what we have been through over the last week,” Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said.
“Coming to today we thought we had gone through it all, and then to hear that four people died in a car accident and dealing with that sort of stuff on top of everything else...”
According to Waka Kotahi/NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) crash data, there have been at least 16 other fatal crashes on Canterbury roads so far this year, at least 138 nationally.
There has only been one other crash at the intersection of Cochranes and Wakanui roads since January 2000, which resulted in no injuries, according to NZTA crash data.
Earlier on Friday, a motorcyclist died in a collision at the intersection of Riccarton Rd and Hansons Ln in Upper Riccarton, Christchurch.
The Press and Stuff are as much a part of Canterbury as a yawning nor’west arch. For 160 years our reporters have championed this community, fought in your corner, and represented the uncrushable spirit of Ōtautahi Christchurch.
