A toddler is in a serious condition in Auckland's Middlemore Hospital this morning after being badly burned in a car fire in northern Hawke's Bay yesterday.
The boy, 23-month-old Dukie King, was pulled from the burning vehicle by his father about 2pm in the small town of Mohaka, 33km southwest of Wairoa, the Herald on Sunday reported.
He was flown to Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital before being flown to Middlemore Hospital's specialist burn treatment unit in Auckland.
Dukie suffered burns to 55 percent of his body and was operated on yesterday.
A neighbour of the boy's family told the paper the car was in the family's driveway, about 30m from their house.
A Middlemore Hospital spokeswoman said Dukie was in a serious condition in the intensive care unit.
A Wairoa police spokesman told NZPA inquiries were continuing into the cause of the fire.
