A woman who suffered serious burns after a gas explosion in a campervan at Lake Hayes this month has undergone skin graft surgery and remains in Dunedin Hospital.
Swiss tourist Margrit Staeheli-Walenstadt, who turned 73 on Sunday, was holidaying with friend Nelly Imhof (60), also from Switzerland, when the explosion occurred on March 7.
It was caused when a leak from a redundant gas pipe ignited with heat coming from a gas cooker.
Mrs Imhof also suffered burns, to her face, hands and feet, but was discharged from hospital the day after the incident.
She said Mrs Staeheli-Walenstadt's bandages were removed a week after the incident, but doctors decided some of the burns had not healed well enough and she underwent surgery on Saturday.
It was expected she would be discharged from hospital by the end of the week, Mrs Imhof said.
The two women arrived in New Zealand in early January and bought the campervan from a German tourist.
They planned to stay in Dunedin until the end of the month to continue treatment, before heading to Auckland and then returning to Switzerland on April 4.
