KEY POINTS:
A seriously injured man was pulled from his blazing home by a member of his family after a massive explosion this morning.
The man, thought to be in his 60s, was alone inside his pre-fabricated farmhouse, near Blackhead Beach in southern Hawke's Bay, when the property was ripped apart by the explosion caused by a suspected gas leak.
Sergeant Ross Gilbert said the man's grandchildren, who live about 40 metres away, were playing outside when they saw the house go up in flames.
They alerted their mother who rushed out and helped pull the man from the rear of the farmhouse before calling emergency services.
The man with serious burns to his head, arms and legs was treated at the scene by fire and ambulance staff before being flown to Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital, where he was in a stable condition in the intensive care unit tonight.
Mr Gilbert said fire safety officers were still investigating the cause of the explosion, but it appears there may have been a gas leak which ignited when the occupier went to light a cigarette this morning.
- NZPA
