'Help, we've got gas poisoning'

Two women nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning after lighting up a gas cooker in their small van to keep warm amid freezing temperatures in Rotorua this week.
 Seriously affected by the toxic fumes, one of the women managed to stumble to a nearby van and bang on a window, crying out for help before collapsing.
The two English tourists, aged in their late 20s or early 30s, were staying at the camping ground at Waikite Valley Thermal Hotpools on Thursday night and had lit their gas cooker inside the van to keep warm.
Richard Berry, who was staying in a van next door to the two women with his partner, Zoe Barrett, said he had heard someone banging on the window of his van.
"She was yelling for help. She said, 'Can you call an ambulance, we've got gas poisoning'. I think they were a little bit scared, the poor things."
Mr Berry said the woman headed back to her van but collapsed outside, by which time the other woman had got out.
"They were pretty wobbly. They were still pretty wobbly after half an hour," Mr Berry said.
"One of them needed to be supported a little bit. If they had stayed too long in there, they could have been knocked out."
Ms Barrett had called an ambulance and Mr Berry said they had waited with the pair until emergency services arrived. The women had told them they could not get the electricity to work so had been using the gas hobs, a fixture inside the van, to keep warm.
 Showing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, they were taken by ambulance to Rotorua Hospital. They were discharged yesterday morning and their whereabouts were now unknown.
A member of the Rotorua Fire Service drove the tourists' campervan to Rotorua, parking it in the hospital carpark.
Ms Barrett and Mr Berry, who is originally from New Plymouth, live in Australia and are spending about a month travelling in New Zealand.
Waikite Valley Thermal Pools lease holder and manager Mark Bowie had no idea of the women's ordeal until he was told by The Daily Post yesterday.
He had left the complex about 9.30pm on Thursday.
He said he was surprised that no one had contacted him about what had happened and was trying to track down his gas-victim guests yesterday to see if they were okay.
There were about 11 people staying at the campground on Thursday, including Shane Ngamoki, from Matata, who said he had been woken by "all the commotion and screaming" and wondered what was going on.
He commended Mr Berry and Ms Barrett for taking control of the situation.
"[Mr Berry] and his partner were really good," Mr Ngamoki said.
The incident prompted the Rotorua Fire Service to issue a warning about the dangers of using gas appliances in small, confined places without ventilation.
"It's a no-no," said Senior Station Officer Cameron McEwen.
He said the women "virtually fell out" of their van and were lucky to be alive.
"If they hadn't got out of there, someone would have being going to a fatal," Mr McEwen said.
 Last September, friends Martin Janse van Rensburg and Derek Hamilton accidentally died of carbon monoxide poisoning after a portable charcoal barbecue was taken into their cabin for warmth at a Ruapuke motor camp.