May the flambé be with you

Two Star Wars fans are in a critical condition in hospital after apparently trying to make light sabres by filling fluorescent light tubes with petrol.

A man, aged 20, and a girl of 17 are believed to have been filming a mock duel when they poured fuel into two glass tubes and lit it.

The pair were rushed to hospital after one of the devices exploded in woodland at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

A third person present at the incident had been questioned, police said.

Videotape found

A videotape was found nearby by police called to the scene on Sunday.

A police spokeswoman said the pair were taken to West Herts Hospital before being transferred to the specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, in Essex.

They are both said to be in a critical condition.

She said the 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man from Hemel Hempstead suffered serious injuries.

She added: "At this stage we are unable to confirm the exact circumstances, but glass tubes and traces of accelerant (flammable substance) were found at the scene

Submitted on 05/25/2005

Submitted by: james love
Reference: bbc news 24/05/05

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Tracy said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
This is verifiable. I know this story has been hanging around, but it's the first time I've seen it, and due to the moderating problems, I'm going to keep it....

Jack said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, but we already have this and rejected it because of the age of the young woman. 17 falls under our maturity guidelines.

Charles said:
Definitely Toss: Other
Having read all the available news reports on this one, I have come to the conclusion that the most likely reason was an alpha geek persuading two friends to go along with this stupidity. One friend may well be under the maturity cutoff. Despite finding that, unlike most of the Sun's stories, this one is probably true, I must downcheck it.

Kelly said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat

Jorge said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention

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