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Police are struggling to get the full facts from a group of teenagers who were inhaling LPG prior to an explosion which left one youth dead.
They said the explosion, leaving the remaining four teenagers in hospital with burns, was apparently caused by one of them trying to light a cigarette in the aftermath of sniffing the flammable gas.
The teenager killed in the explosion was yesterday named as Thomas Kelson Hillman, 18, of Picton. He was alive when taken to Wairau hospital in Blenheim on Monday night but could not be saved. The four injured youths, aged 16-18, were in a stable condition in the hospital yesterday. One was in the intensive care unit.
Inquiries showed there was no fault with the portable gas bottle that the group had with them in the car parked on a Blenheim street.
Police had spoken to the survivors and believed they knew who had tried to light the cigarette.
However, the full details were not yet known, said Senior Sergeant Tony Sampson.
"Not everyone in the vehicle is being quite as open and honest with us as they could be."
Some of the teenagers had been on pain medication, which further clouded the issue.
Police believed Mr Hillman had only been with the group for a short time before the explosion and had been unable to determine if he had inhaled LPG. Mr Sampson labelled abuse of the gas as "really foolish". He said police "may have some culpability issues to deal with", but would not comment further. Mr Hillman's death will be referred to the coroner.
National Addiction Centre director Associate Professor Doug Sellman said LPG, like many solvents, was occasionally used by young people to experiment with as a drug.
A small group of people became addicted to using it, but for most users it was sporadic. When inhaled, LPG had a similar effect to alcohol, producing a feeling of euphoria, Professor Sellman said. Solvent abuse could also cause hallucinations, he added.
