An unemployed man who died of butane poisoning in Wellington in November last year was sniffing lighter fluid, a coroner has ruled.
A coroner's report released on Tuesday says Dane Alfred Daniel was in a park in the middle of the day huffing the gas when he suddenly collapsed. The 24-year-old died a short time later.
His friend told Coroner Tim Scott that Mr Daniel was having spasms, his pupils were dilated and his lips turned blue.
The friend tried to resuscitate him with CPR and called emergency services, but he didn't recover.
A post-mortem concluded that Mr Daniel died from acute butane toxicity.
