Canterbury fire crews rescued four people late on Saturday night after a four-wheel drive became trapped in the Ashley River, near Rangiora.
The group, in their late teens to early 20s, tried to cross the river at about 11:30pm when they and another vehicle got stuck in rising floodwaters.
A police spokesperson said the 22-year-old driver tested over the blood alcohol limit. His reading was over 400 micrograms per litre of breath, above the legal limit of 250mcg.
He will appear in court on November 24 in Christchurch on one charge of driving with excess breath alcohol.
Rangiora Fire Brigade chief Hamish Peter told Newshub the group were on the roof of the car when they arrived.
"We got a rescue line, and one of the firefighters tied that to himself and went over," said Mr Peter.
Retrieval of the first girl almost went awry when she and the firefighter lost their footing and fell into the current, but made it up onto a gravel bank 30-40m downstream.
Mr Peters said it was a lucky escape as the current was getting stronger and the depth of the river was increasing.
Both vehicles were left in the river, and Mr Peter says they are unsure of what happened to the occupants of the other vehicle.
Mr Peter says the group were treated by paramedics on scene.
Newshub.
