• A tree fell in a storm at Balmoral Recreation Reserve, crushing a campervan and critically injuring one person.
• Campers were shocked no one was killed; the injured person was taken to Christchurch Hospital.
• A digger and tractor were used in a complex operation to free the trapped individual.

Campers at a North Canterbury holiday park are shocked no one died when a tree fell over in a storm crushing a caravan beneath it.

One person was critically injured in the incident at Balmoral Recreation Reserve Camping Ground on Balmoral Station Rd in Hurunui last night.

A camper, who wished to remain anonymous, said she “couldn’t see how nobody had been killed”.

She believed two people, a man and a woman, were in the campervan.

She said the moments before the tree fell, she thought she was more at risk of a lightning strike as thunder shook the ground around them.

A holidaymaker was critically injured after a tree smashed through a campervan at Balmoral camping ground in North Canterbury yesterday. Photo / Mike Thorpe

“I mean, I was more concerned about lightning hitting a tree than a tree falling over.

“I didn’t actually think it was that the wind was that bad.”

She said she did not hear the tree crack, instead, she heard a massive “whomp” sound as it fell before people started to gather around the scene.

The camper described the scene as “horrendous” with the camper’s belongings strewn around the site.

Emergency services were forced to use a digger and a tractor to free the person. Photo / Mike Thorpe.

Norm Blomfield, another camper, said he was waiting out the storm with a cup of tea and a book when he opened up his curtains to see the flashing lights.

“To be able to survive that, you’d be buying a lottery ticket.”

He said it was “absolutely pouring” and the tree that fell sat on the edge of the creek bank, which he suspects is the reason it toppled over.

“It’s a perfectly good tree, it’s not rotten,” he said.

He estimated the tree to be about 40m tall.

Blomfield said he was “relieved” he had chosen to park in the sun and not under a tree.

Fellow campers at the Balmoral Recreation Reserve say they are shocked no one died. Photo / Mike Thorpe.

The person was freed from the caravan at 9.52pm but remained in a critical condition. They were transported to Christchurch Hospital.

A Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager said a digger and tractor were used to extricate the person in a “technical, complex assignment”.

The incident was first reported to emergency services about 7.20pm.

A St John spokesperson said one ambulance, one rapid response unit and one first response unit attended.