Officials have said that a teenager who died while working at a Minnesota airport was killed by inhaling the fumes of jet fuel.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has reported that a co-worker found Patrick Marzitelli, 17, passed out on a fuel truck on Friday at the Anoka County Airport. He was declared dead by paramedics.

He has been advised his son's death was probably an accident and not suicide or attempting to get high on the fumes, his father, John Marzitelli, told the newspaper. Marzitelli, a licensed pilot, had helped his son get the job with Cirrus Flight Operations, believing he would be safer working at an airport than at some of the other jobs open to teenagers.

Marzitelli also said that Patrick texted his girlfriend shortly before his collapse saying he had been "blasted" by jet fuel and was "coughing and wheezing."

It was further reported that the teenager was a junior at White Bear Lake High School. His parents said he was interested in science and was about to take college entrance exams. (With Inputs from Agencies)