SINGAPORE - Five Singapore Airlines (SIA) crew members were involved in a car crash on Wednesday morning in Christchurch, New Zealand.

All were sent to Christchurch Public Hospital for treatment, with two of them - chief steward Chew Weng Wai and stewardess Vanessa Coehlo - sustaining serious injuries.

"The male patient is in a critical condition in intensive care and the female is comfortable in a general ward," a hospital spokesman told The Straits Times.

The accident took place at 10.40am local time in Rolleston, a town on the outskirts of Christchurch. The SIA crew members' car, a Toyota, was travelling westward when it crashed into the northbound four-wheel-drive at a cross-junction, said the New Zealand Canterbury police.

"A four-wheel-drive carrying a horse float collided with a vehicle with five people on board," area commander of the New Zealand Fire Service Dave Berry told reporters. "Two people were trapped and have been extricated." A horse float is a trailer used for transporting horses. It is believed that the horse was not hurt.

"Five ambulances and three response vehicles responded to the incident," said a Canterbury police spokesman.

Personnel from the Canterbury Police's Serious Crash Unit went to the scene and investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.

The Straits Times understands that the SIA staff were part of the crew of flight SQ297, which had arrived in Christchurch on Tuesday morning.

When contacted, an SIA spokesman said they had been informed of the accident by New Zealand police. "Our immediate concern is for the welfare of our staff and we shall accord them and their families the highest standard of care and assistance," said the spokesman.