TIRUCHY: A playful event turned tragic in Tiruchy as a 13-year-old boy sustained serious burn injuries when a sanitiser bottle, which he used to ignite a wood-burning stove, burst on July 5. Failing to respond to intensive care at MGMGH, the boy died on Thursday.
Police sources said Sriram was the youngest child of Balamurugan, a daily wager by profession, who is a resident of Bharathi Nagar near EB Road. During his leisure hours on July 5, the Class 8 student of Maris Thoppu middle school was said to be playing with his friends in the locality.
The kids had planned to boil jackfruit seeds which they had piled up. Gathering firewood from nearby places, Sriram and others had set up a wood-burning stove using stones. While others were fetching a pot and other ingredients, Sriram was sitting near the piled up wood in the stove to ignite it.
After failing to start the fire, Sriram brought a bottle of sanitiser from his house. After pouring some on the wood, he set the wood on fire. Since the flames were small, Sriram sprayed the sanitiser directly towards the wood, intending to make it burn well.
Unfortunately, the sanitiser bottle caught fire and within a fraction of second, the heat caused it to explode. This led to Sriram's body catching fire. On seeing the boy covered in flames, onlookers barged in, poured water on him and rushed him to Tiruchy MGMGH for treatment.
Though the flames were put out within a matter of minutes, Sriram is said to have sustained severe third degree burns. Despite being provided intensive care due to the severity of his wounds, Sriram died at the MGMGH. Fort police are investigating the incident.