KEY POINTS:
Two men are being treated for serious burns after falling into a fire they had lit at an Otago property.
Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken, of Dunedin police, said that the pair used petrol to light a fire at the back of a property in Mosgiel about 4am yesterday.
It appeared one of the men was still holding the petrol container when another man "rugby-tackled" him backwards into the fire, he told the Otago Daily Times.
The fuel spilled from the container and caught fire, burning both men.
Mr Aitken said one of the men suffered severe burns to his upper body, torso, and face, and the other had severe burns to his leg.
Police believe the men were drunk at the time.
"It looks like some antics went badly wrong," Mr Aitken said.
The men were taken to Dunedin Hospital for treatment.
- NZPA
