16-year-old tries hand at fire breathing stunt, dies of burns

Police said the victim, Jebin John (16), was alone at his house preparing for quarterly examination when he attempted to perform fireball stunt. 

“He seems to have taken a mouthful of kerosene from a can and tried blowing it on to fire to create a fireball inside his house. He held a burning candle in his hand and blew kerosene from his mouth. As he failed to control the blowing, kerosene spilled over his body. He was soon engulfed by fire, leading to the tragic incident,” police said.

With his body on fire, Jebin ran out of his house crying for help. Shocked neighbours who gathered poured water and covered his body with a blanket to douse the fire. They then alerted the 108-ambulance service, that rushed to the Government Hospital in Chengalpattu. The boy was treated at the hospital, but he died without responding to the treatment later in the night.

Based on the complaint from the boy’s father John Wilson, the Guduvancherry police have registered a case under CrPC Section 174 (unnatural death). Police noted that there were no other friends in his house when he tried to perform the fatal stunt. “It is not clear from where he got the idea. It is possible that he had seen it on TV and tried it out on his own,” the police said.

Police said that Jebin was studying at a school in Chetpet. His mother is employed as a school teacher at a government school in Semmanchery, while his father John Wilson works as manager at a hotel in Meenambakkam.