A witness who was one of the first on the scene of this evening’s crash in central Christchurch said the occupants who ran from one of the cars “were very drunk.”

Emergency services were called to the two-car crash near the intersection of Madras Street and High Street at 8pm.

A witness told Chris Lynch she ran over to help the occupants of the offending car.

“Three Pacifica girls aged between 18 to 23 went straight through the intersection and crashed into another car that was coming towards the intersection.

“I was there when they got out of the car. I was helping them, but then realised they were going to run from the scene.

They had more than 3 bottles of spirits alcohol bottles in their jacket pockets and in their pants.

They seemed very drunk and two of them had very bloody faces from the crash.

The car instantly caught on fire but one man came out with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out in a matter of minutes if not seconds.

They were extremely lucky to get out without too much harm.

A police officer told me the car was stolen.”

A young couple who were heading out for dinner said they were lucky to be alive.

“We had just pulled into Madras Street from High Street, and the only thing that saved us from being hit was the traffic light that they smashed into.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed to Chris Lynch that the occupants of one of the cars involved ran from the scene and a traffic light was knocked down.

Police are still trying to find them.

There is no indication that anyone was seriously injured in the crash.