The father of a three-year-old boy who needed skin grafts after his Chinese-made pyjamas caught fire has told how he raced to smother the flames.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry is urgently investigating the safety of Chinese- made goods after at least two children suffered serious burns when clothing caught fire.
Waikato boy Jack Livingstone spent three weeks in hospital and had skin taken from his leg to graft on to his back and upper arm last month after his Superman singlet, also made in China, and flannelette pyjamas caught alight.
His father, Mike Livingstone, bought the outfit because the label said "low fire danger".
Jack was sitting in front of a gas fire on July 8 when the clothing caught fire.
"Our 13-year-old daughter always gets up early, goes into the lounge and turns on the TV and the gas heater," Mr Livingstone said. "Suddenly we heard the kids making a hell of a commotion and she was yelling, 'Jack's on fire, Jack's on fire'.
"My wife and I jumped up and he was running towards us with flames coming out of him."
Jack suffered burns to 15 per cent of his body and some nerves were exposed.
He was due this week to receive a pressure suit he will need to wear 23 hours a day for two years to reduce scarring.
In May, a 10-year-old Christchurch boy suffered burns to 15 per cent of his body after his Simpsons pyjamas caught alight as he read a book in front of a gas fire.
Sally Langley, the plastic surgeon who operated on the boy, said he had to endure several operations to repair his burnt torso. "It's miserable for the child and the extended family.
"Medically and socially it is damaging (for the child) at the time and he will have permanent scarring . . . Very traumatic," she said.
Chinese-made clothing tested by TV3's Target programme, to screen later this week, has also been found to contain high levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said Consumer Affairs officials had launched an urgent inquiry into the safety of products imported from China.
All imports, regardless of origin, had to meet New Zealand's food and product safety rules, she said. "They are universal standards and, if countries don't meet them, the goods don't stay here."
Trade Minister Phil Goff said consumer safety would not be comprised if the Government brokered a sought-after free trade agreement with China.
"Anything to do with product safety or quality of food is dealt with under the rules by which we trade with all of the rest of the world."
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy said his government had acknowledged the safety concerns about exports and was anxious to alleviate consumer fears. "We are happy to talk about, discuss and investigate any concerns the New Zealand Government has."
From Stuff.co.nz
