A 44-year-old Sri Lankan named Pradeep Edirisinghe died in a two-car crash near Riversdale in Southland, New Zealand yesterday.

Police said Mr Edirisinghe, who died at the scene of the crash, had been working on a dairy farm and living in the Riversdale community.

The two-vehicle crash occurred on the Riversdale Waikaia Rd and Two Chain Rd intersection about 9.30am.

The road was closed for four hours as police conducted a scene examination with the Serious Crash Unit in attendance.

Police said from an initial examination, it appeared a Toyota Hiace van failed to stop at an intersection, and struck Mr Edirisinghe's vehicle.

The male driver and female passenger of the van, both Italians aged in their 20's were airlifted to the otago hospital.

Police said the woman was suffering from serious injuries. The driver of the van was being spoken to as part of the police investigation.(NZ Herald)