Findings in greater detail

Events leading up to tragedy

Chong, Yang, and Lim were sightseeing in New Zealand.

On Apr. 8, 2023 Lim arrived in New Zealand for a two-week holiday.

Chong met him at Christchurch and the two collected a Toyota Hiace campervan.

Lim identified himself as the primary driver on the rental agreement.

They drove to Auckland where they met Yang.

The three then travelled back down New Zealand while sightseeing.

The van was able to seat two passengers, as well as the driver, in the front.

One of the three usually travelled in the rear of the vehicle, with the other two in the front seats.

On Apr. 15, the friends went skydiving at Wanaka.

On Apr. 16, at 11:40pm, their campervan was captured on CCTV travelling through Lake Tekapo village.

Distress emergency call

At 1:03am on Apr. 17, Yang made a 111 call.

She told the dispatcher that she had been in an accident on the way to Geraldine, that she was a passenger in a campervan with two friends, and that her friend was “caught” and could not get out of the vehicle.

She did not say which friend this was.

40 seconds into the call, Yang told the dispatcher that there was a fire.

After this, screams and other noises could be heard, until the line went dead at about three minutes into the call.

Emergency services had been dispatched before the phone line went dead.

Emergency team reaches casualties

The location was identified as State Highway 79, about 2km from Geraldine.

The first firefighters were there at 1:13am, which was 10 minutes after the call for help was made.

The van had rolled onto its driver’s side and was engulfed in flames.

Once the fire was extinguished, the first responders established that there was one person near the back of the van by the roof and two people in the front.

One was in the driver’s seat and the other had fallen towards the driver’s seat when the van rolled.

Bodies burned

All three bodies were so badly burned that they initially could not be identified.

After extensive inquiries, the bodies were identified.

Chong was identified as the passenger in the rear of the van.

Lim was in the driver’s seat, and Yang was the front passenger.

He had been recorded as the primary driver when the van was hired, and CCTV footage captured during the trio’s holiday showed him driving, and his body was in the driver’s seat.

The pathologists found that all three victims died from the effects of inhalation of smoke and fumes in an enclosed space, and they were badly burned.

The blood of all three were negative for drugs and alcohol.

Details about crash site

The posted speed limit at the location of the accident is 100kmh.

No evidence was found to suggest that the van had braked prior to the crash.

The road was in good condition and was dry at the time of the crash.

There was no frost.

The sky was clear and visibility was good with the aid of headlights.

The van had come to rest on its right side.

No mechanical faults were identified on the van.

The front of the van was damaged from contact with the guardrail.

The van was calculated to have been travelling at no less than 91kmh when it struck the guard rail barrier.

The barrier absorbed some of the impact, as it was designed to do.

Extent of damage of van caused by fire

The van was extensively damaged by fire.

Its windows and tyres were melted.

The fuel tank was intact, as was the LPG gas bottle, which was used for cooking inside the van.

The cabinetry and furniture inside the van was destroyed.

Fatigue a causative factor

Senior Constable Aaron Tapp, attached to the Canterbury Serious Crash Unit, investigated the crash and provided a report.

He considered causative factors to the crash.

His opinion was that it was likely that fatigue was a causative factor.

In coming to this conclusion, he noted that the crash had occurred between midnight and 8am, which is considered a “biological risk factor” for fatigue.

Further predictors that may infer fatigue were identified as the crash involving a single vehicle on a straight segment of road, and the van leaving the road at a shallow angle without taking emergency action, such as braking or correcting.

Tapp noted that while the sleep patterns of the trio as they travelled around the South Island were not known, the time of night when the crash occurred meant that it was possible that Lim had been awake for more than 12 hours.

Would have survived had it not been for the fire

His opinion was that it was highly likely that Chong, Lim, and Yang would have survived the crash had the van not caught fire.

The van had a “house battery” near the wheel arch.

A house battery powers the living area of the van.

Fire damage indicated that the fire started on or at floor level, in front of the wheel arch in the rear of the van and spread into the engine compartment.

Craig Chambers is a specialist fire investigator with Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

He attended the scene.

His opinion was that the probable cause of the fire was an electrical arc, which was created when the house battery was displaced as the van collided with the road safety barrier.

No explanation for why trio couldn't exit van

However, the evidence before the court did not explain why none of the three victims of this accident were able to get out of the van after it crashed.

Lim may have been incapacitated by a head injury, but Yang was able to make a 111 call.

It is possible that the doors were too difficult to open once the van had tipped onto its side.

It would not have been possible for an emergency vehicle to be on the scene in time to get anyone out of the van before it caught fire, or to stop the fire once it started.

This tragic accident illustrates the importance of not driving when fatigued, the coroner noted.

All drivers, and particularly those who are planning road trips around New Zealand, must ensure that their itineraries allow sufficient time for rest and sleep so that they are not driving tired, he wrote.