Woman's fart starts fire during surgery, causing serious burns to her body

Experts believe the flatulence was ignited by a laser.
 By 
Brian Koerber
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A patient's flatulence sparked a fire which caused her serious burns to her body, according to a university hospital in Japan.

Although the incident occurred on April 15 at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital in the Shinjuku Ward, news of the accident is just being reported after a report was released from the hospital on Friday. The report was released by the hospital after a committee of outside experts examined the case and determined that there were no flammable materials inside the room at the time of surgery, according to Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun.

The patient was in her 30s and was undergoing a procedure where a laser was applied to her cervix. Experts believe that the laser ignited the fire after the woman farted, which caused burns to "much of her body, including her waist and legs."


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According to the report, the equipment was functioning normally at the time of the operation.

“When the patient’s intestinal gas leaked into the space of the operation (room), it ignited with the irradiation of the laser, and the burning spread, eventually reaching the surgical drape and causing the fire,” the report said.

[h/t: Gizmodo]

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Brian Koerber

Brian was the Culture Editor and has been working at Mashable on the web culture desk since 2014.

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