CHENNAI: In a tragic incident, a Class X boy who was trying to make a fireball by blowing kerosene over an open flame in his house at Iyanchery, near Guduvancherry, on Thursday was burnt to death. He was
engulfed in flames when the fuel spilled on his clothes caught fire.
Jebin John, 16, was alone at his house, when he attempted to perform the daredevilry on Thursday afternoon. He learnt the act through watching videos online. On the fateful day, he tried to enact it at his house on the terrace.
John took a can of kerosene and a candle and went upstairs. He filled his mouth with kerosene and while doing so it fell on his clothes. He then tried to blow into the lighted candle to make a fireball, when the fire spread to his kerosene-soaked clothes, a police source said.
The boy came running out of the house and neighbours tried to douse the flames and rushed him to government hospital in Chengalpattu. He succumbed to burns on Thursday night.
Police said Jebin was studying in a nearby school. His mother worked as a teacher at a government school at Semmanchery. His father John Wilson worked as a manager in a star hotel at Meenambakkam. Police are investigating whether someone taught him to perform the act or whether he has learnt online. Based on a complaint from the boy’s father, Guduvanchery police registered a case.