Brit dies & three others fighting for lives after car crashed into tourists’ hired bikes in horror smash in New Zealand

A BRIT has been killed and three others injured in a catastrophic crash after their shared bike was hit by a car in New Zealand. The travellers were riding along Puruatanga Road in Martinborough, 65km east of Wellington on Thursday morning when the incident took place. One cyclist died at the scene after being fatally injured in the crash while the three others were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

A British High Commission spokesperson has said they were working with New Zealand police following "an incident involving British people in Martinborough.". The group aged between their mid to late 40s and early 50s had hired the shared bike from Indi Bikes Martinborough. The company's owner Wayde Mines confirmed the news of the fatal crash involving two couples who were visiting the area. Mines told Stuff he was "absolutely devastated" and "blown away" by the incident.

He added: "It was a beautiful day in Martinborough that ended badly. "They certainly weren’t ‘party-party, we’re gonna drink lots of alcohol on the bike and get hammered’.". A worker from a local vineyard rushed to the scene after hearing the impact saying he believed the shared bike was rear-ended by a vehicle. The employee from Moy Hall Vineyard said it was a "nasty" accident that may have been caused by the bike being in a blind "shadow spot" out of sight of the driver of the car.

"It looked like a group of people who were just heading out into the vines like many do," he said. "It's pretty upsetting.". Local doctors and police rushed to the scene with others carrying out first aid on those injured. It comes as local businesses have repeatedly called for a change to the speed limit on the stretch of road where vehicle can currently travel at 100km an hour. The owner of another bike hire company, Martinborough Bicycle Hire, has lived on Puruatanga Road for 25 years and said that they had never heard of a fatal crash involving bikes on that stretch of tarmac.

"It’s a long straight road and very wide. Normally there is plenty of room for bikes," they told Stuff. "On a weekend there would be hundreds of them on the road because there are a lot of vineyards and restaurants down it. "We used to say the bikes never left the road, there’d be so many people on it.". An investigation into the crash is ongoing and South Wairarapa Mayor Martin Connelly told RNZ that the council will wait for a police report before taking action on reviewing the speed limit on the road.