Playing with fire: Boy, 14, suffers burns after setting gas canister alight with friends at HDB block

If you play with fire, you get burnt. Three secondary school students learnt that the hard way after their little "fun" resulted in the clothes of one being set on fire.

The victim, 14, suffered burns on both arms and on his abdomen.

The incident occurred on Sunday night (Dec 27), at a staircase landing of a HDB block located along Sembawang Drive.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the victim had allegedly released gas from a butane canister as one of his friends struck a lighter, instantly causing his clothes to ignite.

He immediately pulled off his still burning top in an attempt to put out the flames, but still sustained burns on his arms and abdomen. Meanwhile, one of his friends grabbed a 1.5-litre bottle of water and doused him with it.

Speaking with the Chinese paper, one of the boy's neighbours said he ran home afterwards and rushed into the shower. When his family saw the extent of his burns, they called an ambulance. 

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Another resident told the paper the victim was led to the ambulance with both arms and his upper body wrapped in gauze.

Confirming that they received a call for assistance in relation to the incident, the Singapore Civil Defence Force told AsiaOne that the victim was conveyed to KK Women's and Children's Hospital. 

Only the victim's grandmother was home at the time of the incident. When the boy's mother learnt of what had happened later that night, she burst into tears, the family's neighbour told the paper.

When approached by the Chinese evening daily, the family only said: "Everything is fine."

In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said the other two boys, aged 14 and 15, are currently assisting with their investigations.

rainercheung@asiaone.com