KEY POINTS:
A "foolish action" landed a pregnant woman in hospital with burns to her upper body while attending the annual Brass Monkey Rally in Central Otago at the weekend.
The 30-year-old woman was standing next to a drum full of burning wood trying to keep warm when someone threw accelerant on it, the Otago Daily Times reported.
She was initially taken by ambulance to Maniototo Hospital in Ranfurly, 25km away, before being airlifted to Dunedin Hospital, where she is in a stable condition with second-degree burns to her face, neck and arms.
"It was a foolish action with disastrous repercussions," a St John ambulance officer told the newspaper.
"It destroyed the whole weekend."
Brass Monkey Rally committee member Jeremy Burdett said he was disappointed with the incident and concerned for the woman but that there were no plans to change the rally.
- NZPA
