Two people have died after being pursued by police in separate incidents in Picton and Murchison overnight on Saturday.
In the first incident, police say officers saw a speeding motorcyclist and pillion passenger on Waikawa Rd, Picton, on Saturday night, and believed the driver was drunk.
Following a pursuit that lasted about 40 seconds the motorcycle crashed at about 11.47pm. The driver was killed.
The female passenger was flown to Wellington hospital in a serious condition.
About three hours later, officers were called about a vehicle doing burn-outs outside licensed premises in Murchison.
They say after a pursuit that lasted about a minute, the vehicle crashed on Four Rivers Highway (SH6) at 2.42am on Sunday.
A passenger was killed and the driver of the vehicle is in a critical but stable condition in Nelson hospital. Police say both are from Invercargill.
The police were still dealing with these fatalities when three more people died in a crash near Nelson.
Police minister
Police Minister Judith Collins doesn't want to see any change in policy that will stop the police from pursuing speeding motorists.
Ms Collins says the two accidents don't warrant an immediate change in policy.
But she says the Independent Police Conduct Authority will investigate both incidents.
Nelson crash
Police say it appears a vehicle left the road at high speed on Sunday morning and hit a tree, outside the cemetery on Marsden Valley Rd, near Stoke, killing three teenagers.
Police in Nelson have released the names of those killed.
They were Jordan Rangiuia, 18, Daniel Johnson, 18 and Jonathan Williams, 17.
A fourth occupant of the car remains in hospital with serious injuries.
Nelson Fire Service station officer, Craig Davies, says such a quick succession of major incidents has a big impact on firefighters, ambulance and police staff.
