Suspicion falls on gas leak after blast at Kaitaia school

Six students and a teacher were injured - some critically - after an explosion at a Northland school that blew out a workshop's windows and embedded tools in walls.
A leaking acetylene gas cylinder is believed to have caused the blast at Kaitaia College at about 1pm. The blast occurred during a class attended by 18 year-11 students, a teacher and a teacher's aide, and was so loud it was heard across the town.
As a result of the blast six boys and their teacher, a man in his early 40s, were taken to Kaitaia Hospital.
Four were critically injured. Two of those were flown to Auckland Hospital and the other two were sent to Whangarei Hospital. This morning the two in Whangarei Hospital were reported to be in a serious but stable condition.
The teacher, who was in a less serious condition, was reported to have been sent by road to Whangarei Hospital.
The remaining two patients sustained lesser injuries. Specific details of their injuries were not available.
Fire Safety Officer Lindsay Murray said it appeared the explosion had been caused by a gas leak from an acetylene cylinder.
The room resembled a bomb site yesterday and the group had been "extremely lucky" not to have sustained more serious injuries, he said.
Eighty percent of the windows had been blown out and metal-working tools, including tin snips, had been sent flying through the air and were left embedded in the walls, he said.
"Tools were flying around the place and they could have embedded in anybody," he said.
School principal William Tailby said the school's nearness to Kaitaia Hospital meant doctors and nurses were at the scene within minutes.
He confirmed the explosion appeared to have been caused by an acetylene cylinder.
"I don't think that class was using acetylene but it's an engineering workshop and it has acetylene and the explosion came from the back of the room where the acetylene is kept," he said.
However, Occupational Safety and Health had yet to find what caused the acetylene container to explode.
Mr Tailby said OSH investigators would be at the school for the rest of the week.
He was thankful for support he had received from the community and staff and was impressed with how students had coped with the emergency with maturity.
Kaitaia College student Wesley Higgins said he was in a class about a block away when he heard "a loud bang".
A 15-year-old friend had been in the engineering workshop and had been among those flown to Whangarei Hospital, he said.
He understood his friends injuries were not severe.
"You get worried about your mates when things like that happen," he said.
Kaitaia police Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn would not comment on the cause of the explosion but said it did not appear to have been criminal or malicious.
He said families of the teenagers involved had been contacted and a Victim Support officer sent to the hospital.
A crisis intervention team would also be available at the school, he said.
Ministry of Education Northland manager Chris Eve was satisfied the school had handled the incident appropriately.
Such incidents were rare in Northland.
"I can't recall an incident of this nature in the last three years," Mr Eve said.
Northland Occupational Safety and Health service manager Ian Baxter confirmed his department was investigating the explosion but could not comment further.