A tourist arriving at Christchurch Airport has done a runner from the terminal as he was being spoken to by immigration officials.
The man, aged between 25 and 35, somehow suffered a bad cut to his head as he fled the airport on Friday afternoon.
Immigration New Zealand said the man was being interviewed on arrival as part of routine arrival procedures and was not in custody.
"He absconded during the interview and police are currently looking for him," it said in a short statement.
Laetitia Macharper, who works at a nearby business, says the bleeding man approached her in the car park asking to be taken to hospital after he claimed to be a Dutch tourist and to have fallen out of a taxi.
However, she didn't quite believe his story and said she would call an ambulance before police sirens prompted the man to run off.
"I've never seen someone run so fast," Ms Macharper told Fairfax.
Police say the man is of small build, average height and has sandy blond hair.
He was wearing a grey checked shirt and cream-coloured jeans.
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Leaves me with the image of CHCH immigration officers now beating new arrivals to get an answer...
