(From the local newspaper, Shanghai Daily)

HUANGPU District Central Hospital yesterday said it had discovered the cause of a blaze that left a female patient burnt on the back during an operation on Wednesday morning.

Authorities said static electricity had ignited alcohol in the disinfectant that had been used on the patient's skin, hospital officials said.

The victim, a 37-year-old woman surnamed Zheng from Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province, was under local anaesthetic during the breast fibroma operation at about 11am on Wednesday.

"Suddenly I felt quite hot on my back, and the pain got increasingly worse," Zheng said. "I didn't know what was happening, so I tried to lift my head up and call the doctors."

Doctors found the operating table had caught fire and was smouldering. The flames then leapt up and caught Zheng's hair and back. Operating staff put out the fire, but Zheng's back was singed, said a doctor surnamed Wang.

Faulty wiring was initially thought to be the cause of the fire. Zheng said her leg was wrapped with several wires during the operation.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200812/20081212/article_384208.htm