Police said a fatal crash in Southland happened after Italian tourists in a van failed to stop at an intersection.

Two cars collided at an intersection in Riversdale around 9:30 this morning, killing Sri Lankan Pradeep Edirisinghe.

The 44 year old had been working on a dairy farm and living in Riversdale.

Police said a man and woman from Italy were travelling in a Toyota Hiace van.

The woman - who's in her 20s, is now in Dunedin Hospital with serious injuries.

Senior Sergeant Richard McPhail said initial indications are that the van failed to stop at the stop sign controlled intersection and struck the Sri Lankan man's Nissan.

He said they are speaking to the man who was driving the van.