Two Swedish Tourists Killed on Dangerous Northland Road

Within hours of their arrival in New Zealand two young Swedish tourists have been killed on a notorious stretch of road

Source NZ Herald

"Relatives of two Swedish tourists who died in a car crash in Northland are being sought by Interpol to tell them of the tragedy.

The two young women, both in their early 20s, died when they lost control of their car on the northern side of the Brynderwyn Hills, south of Whangarei yesterday.

Their car crossed the centre line and hit a north bound car, killing the two women and slightly injuring the driver and front seat passenger of the north bound car."

Whangarei Sergeant Chris Goodall said the road had a "decided history of loss of control accident whenever it rains." and that although the road was three lanes wide there was a tendency for people to "fall off" and to lose concentration.

According to the Herald it was the second fatal accident in the area in two days. On Friday Robert Watene, 22, died when his car and a truck collided on State Highway 1 near the Waipu turnoff, about 30km north of the Brynderwyn Hills.

362 Killed in last 12 months

In the year to 27 Feb a total of 362 people have been killed on New Zealand's roads, 66 of them in the last 2 months.