Northland woman dies after gas explosion

A Northland woman has died in hospital after she was severely burnt in a gas explosion.

Nineteen-year-old Lesley Anita Wehi Jack, died in Middlemore Hospital about 7.20pm on Tuesday surrounded by her family.

Little more than 24 hours earlier she had returned to her Ruakaka home in Tamure Drv, where a gas explosion ignited the two-bedroom house she had moved into on Waitangi Day.

Miss Jack managed to get outside the house where she was immediately helped by neighbours who had rung emergency services and started to wet her down using a garden hose.

Specialist fire investigator Craig Bain said the explosion was a result of a faulty gas appliance in the kitchen area.

Mr Bain called in an energy safety inspector from Wellington and a gas fire investigation specialist from Auckland to help with the examination of the scene on Tuesday.

He said the death was a "dreadful accident".