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A collision between a campervan and a ute has left two dead and a third person injured in Canterbury.
Two tourists killed in a campervan crash in Canterbury on Thursday have been named as young Singaporean technology executives.
Rena Ong and Zhihao Chen were employees of audiovisual company Crestron Singapore, The Straits Times reported.
They are believed to have arrived in New Zealand just shortly before the crash on State Highway 1 south of Dunsandel, about 40km southwest of Christchurch.
Rena Ong had celebrated her 29th birthday a week before a Canterbury crash took her life.
Their Jucy rental van crossed the centre line and collided with a ute head on. The pair died at the scene, while a third person was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Rena Ong and Zhihao Chen were killed when their Jucy rentals van crossed a centre line and smashed into a ute in Canterbury.
Chen was a technical director at the company, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was believed to be aged in his late 20s or early 30s.
Ong, an operations executive, had celebrated her 29th birthday last week.
Crestron Asia-Pacific chief executive Stuart Craig told the Straits Times the duo's colleagues were "devastated" by their deaths.
"They made a wonderful contribution to our company and were well-loved and respected throughout the audiovisual industry."
Police were yet to formally release the pair's identities, but Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier confirmed that two Singaporeans had been killed.
Senior Sergeant Pete Stills said police would look at driver inattention and fatigue as possible causes of the crash.
"There's no immediate intersection so the campervan has rounded the bend on Main South Rd and then for some unknown reason has crossed the centre line and is entirely on the wrong side of the road when it struck the northbound vehicle.
"If you've recently arrived in the country, perhaps sleep is the priority before driving, if that's the case – and I'm not pre-empting anything – and
and I'm not pre-empting anything – and being familiar with our road rules."
Jucy chief executive officer Tim Alpe said the vehicle had been rented from their Christchurch branch.
He said he was in the initial stages of working with police to identify who had hired the van.
"Our thoughts are with all the people involved, it's a tragic situation."
The ute was owned by Jace Electrical Services. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment.
The crash happened at the intersection of Breadings Rd and State Highway 1, about 8km north of Rakaia.
Two fire crews and the police serious crash unit were at the scene on Thursday afternoon.
State Highway 1 was closed for over five hours, though diversions were in place. The road had fully reopened by 6.30pm.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/922...-in-campervan-crash-soon-after-arriving-in-nz
