Patient Bursts Into Flames and Dies During Surgical Operation in Romania

A nurse reportedly used a bucket of water to extinguish the flames, but the patient suffered burns to 40 percent of her body and succumbed to her wounds a week later.

A 66-year-old woman burst into flames and burned to death during surgery in Bucharest earlier this month, according to Romanian politician Emanuel Ungureanu, who filed a criminal complaint regarding the incident.

Doctors were operating on the patient, who suffered from pancreatic cancer, opting for an alcohol-based disinfectant and then using an electric scalpel, which resulted in the fatal combustion.

"Surgeons should have been aware that it is prohibited to use an alcohol-based disinfectant during surgical procedures performed with an electric scalpel", Deputy Health Minister Horatiu Moldovan said, commenting on the tragic death.