According to the English-language version of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, a patient’s fart during surgery sparked a fire that caused serious burns to her body.
The Asahi Shimbun account said that the incident had taken place at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital back on 15 April 2016, while a patient in her 30s was undergoing an operation that involved applying a laser to her cervix. Supposedly the laser ignited gas from the fart and touched off a fire that burned much of her body, including her waist and legs.
The hospital released a report about the occurrence from a committee of outside experts on 28 October 2016, who said that no flammable materials were in the operating room at the time of the surgery and that the equipment used in the operation was functioning normally:
When the patient’s intestinal gas leaked into the space of the operation (room), it ignited with the irradiation of the laser, and the burning spread, eventually reaching the surgical drape and causing the fire.