Woman dies after catching fire during cancer surgery
A woman has died after being set alight during surgery in Romania.
The cancer patient died on Sunday after suffering burns to 40% of her body when surgeons used an electric scalpel despite her being treated with an alcohol-based disinfectant.
Contact with the flammable disinfectant caused the patient to be "ignited like a torch", Emanuel Ungureanu, a Romanian politician..
A nurse threw a bucket of water over the 66-year-old woman to prevent the fire from spreading.
"The surgeons should have been aware that it is prohibited to use an alcohol-based disinfectant during surgical procedures performed with an electric scalpel," the deputy minister, Horatiu Moldovan, said.
