KEY POINTS:
Two young St John members, whose allegedly high-speed street race ended in a fiery crash, were returning from a youth leadership camp.
The 19-year-olds, who have been with St John for a number of years after joining as cadets, were reported to have been racing at speeds in excess of 140km/h along McLeans Island Road in northwest Christchurch on Monday when the driver of the rear car lost control on a bend.
His vehicle crashed through a fence, slamming into trees outside the Canterbury Kennel Club, before bursting into flames just as he managed to escape the wreckage. He suffered only moderate injuries and witnesses said he was wearing the white shirt of a "St John ambulance officer".
The pair were returning from a St John youth leadership training camp for about 100 12-to 17-year-olds held over Easter at Waddington, central Canterbury, The Press reported.
St John's national youth director Michael Brooke said the organisation's youth section focused on road safety.
Mr Brooke said St John's human resources policy required an internal investigation when someone might have brought the organisation into disrepute.
The investigation was also to "understand if there was anything we could have done to prevent it".
"At the end of the day it happened in their own time and in their own cars, but we will still look at it," he said.
It was too early to prejudge what might happen to the pair, he said.
Action taken could range from no action to talking to the boys to expelling them from the organisation, Mr Brooke said.
- NZPA
