Woman's Face Erupted Into Flames During Alabama Surgery

    June 30, 2003
    A woman's face exploded into flames during surgery in an Alabama hospital
    A woman's face exploded into flames during surgery in an Alabama hospital.

    Melanie Allen, emerging from anesthesia at Montclair Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, said: "I remember waking up and yelling, 'I'm burning. I'm on fire. My face just ignited."

    Officials blame the freak blaze on electrical surgical tools that sparked oxygen and flammable material used in the operation.

    Allen, 40, must now undergo plastic surgery.

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