Emergency Services

Emergency services have helped extricate a person from an Auckland property and taken them to hospital in a serious condition.

Roofs have been lifted after an isolated thunderstorm likely caused a small tornado in Awakeri.

Hutt Valley Line services may be affected for several hours, and commuters should check the Metlink app or website for updates.

Air New Zealand said the flight was cancelled "after pilots noted an aircraft system indication alert before take-off".

Officers from the Police Criminal Investigation Branch and the Serious Crash Unit are at the scene.

Christchurch police are investigating a sudden death in the central suburb of Beckenham.

A small child, playing happily outside his home in South Australia's mid-north, wandered off into the bush.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand are looking to take the matter to the Employment Relations Authority.

In several personal statements it was suggested the island should be handed over to the government and never used again for tourism.

Clark Townsley has refused a citation for his work on the fatal blaze because he is so angry about the lack of equipment crews had to rescue people.

The families of the missing have agreed for heavy equipment to be used.

Police confirmed two people who they previously said were missing were found dead inside the house.

The blaze at the New World began in a freezer about 3.30am this morning.

The country's newest fire trucks can not be used at rescues because they are too small to fit all the lifesaving gear they need to carry.

At this stage there is no information to suggest the fire is related to the case, police say.

Police officers would be in the area on Wednesday, and possibly Thursday, as the body was retrieved.

The building suddenly gave way as the students from the Islamic school gathered for afternoon prayers.