Two men are in Dunedin Hospital with severe burns after an attempt to produce cannabis oil caused an explosion in the south Otago town of Milton.

 

 

 

Police said the pair, aged 27 and 24, were flown to Dunedin Hospital after the explosion that gutted a sleepout at a residential property on Tuesday night.

Constable Ross Hutton, of Milton police, said one of the men had burns to about 15 percent of his body, but his colleague was less seriously hurt. They were expected to remain in hospital for about a week.

Members of the police national clandestine drugs laboratory team, who were called down from Auckland on Tuesday after a methamphetamine lab was discovered in Queenstown, checked the sleepout but were satisfied only cannabis was involved.

Samples were taken for analysis.

Mr Hutton said manufacturing cannabis oil involved soaking plant material in alcohol and heating it, which could produce dangerous fumes in a confined space.

The sleepout had been "completely gutted" by the fire that followed the explosion.

Both injured men faced charges and would be interviewed as their conditions improved.

"It's not a large-scale enterprise, but they're still facing charges of attempting to manufacture class B drugs," he said.

 

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