A skifield worker suffered acid burns to his eyes and hands when the battery of a snowcat he was trying to jumpstart exploded in his face at Whakapapa in the central North Island today.
The 24-year-old mixed up the negative and positive terminals when the battery exploded about 9.30am at the field in Tongariro National Park.
Taupo Rescue Helicopter pilot Art Kowalski said the man was treated at the scene by ambulance staff and then flown to Rotorua Hospital.
As the helicopter was returning from Rotorua it was called to the Turoa skifield where a 52-year-old woman had broken her femur in a skiing accident.
She was flown to Palmerston North hospital for treatment.
