Two friends burned in an explosion while inhaling gas from an LPG bottle at a house in Otago remain in a serious condition.
Brendon McLeod, 17, and Jamie Jury, 18, suffered extensive burns after the explosion at the Mosgiel house on Monday.
Mr Jury is understood to have burns to 60 per cent of his body and is in a serious condition in Dunedin Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman told NZ Newswire.
"It is just one hour at a time, a wait-and-see game," his father Steven told Fairfax.
"His burns are quite serious. There will be a lot of surgery, years of it, I think."
Mr McLeod was transferred to the burns unit at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland on Tuesday and is in a serious but stable condition.
East Otago Fire Service assistant area commander Trevor Tilyard told the Otago Daily Times that three out of the four 9kg LPG bottles at the house had exploded.
He said the blast was so strong it blew the soles off the men's shoes and their skin was spread on the walls and ceilings in the lounge.
Chief coroner Neil Maclean has initiated an inquiry into the wider issue of solvent sniffing, known as "huffing".
There have been more than 30 deaths since 2001, mainly of teenage boys.
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