The deceased, Prithvi Narayan Mishra, was a first year Bachelor of Arts student of MLNC evening college. According to police, while performing the stunt on Thursday, Mishra's clothes caught fire and he suffered 90% burn injuries.

He was immediately rushed to Safdarjung Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Friday. He was on the campus premises when the incident took place.

"Mishra was performing an act for which he had put oil in his mouth and was supposed to create fire balls. While doing this, he held the fire in his mouth and could not manage to throw it out. The fire caused burns in his mouth,"said a police officer.

"He then tried to control the fire by turning his head down which caused oil to spill on his clothes and the fire further spread resulting in severe burn injuries,"the officer added.

Despite repeated efforts, the principal of Moti Lal Nehru College was not available for comment. However, the police said that there was no prior permission given by the college authorities to perform the stunt.

"When Mishra performed the stunt, not many students were aware of it. Most of the students were surprised when Mishra fell on the floor and got engulfed in fire,"the officer said.

He was a resident of Kapashera in southwest Delhi. The deceased was a native of Bihar and was staying with his father, who is a class IV employee. A case of death by accidental fire has been registered at R K Puram police station.

Link to the site: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Cities/Delhi/Student_killed_in_fire_stunt_at_fest/articleshow/1744164.cms

Submitted on 03/16/2007

Submitted by: Pradip Sampat
Reference: The Times of India, New Delhi - March 10, 2007

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
This one is a cut above the normal spitting fire stunt. He was holding the fire in his mouth instead of lighting the fluid as it came out, he was using a flammable oil, and he managed to spit it all over himself in the process. Not only that, but he missed the "Hey everyone! Watch this!" phase since no one else was aware of what he was doing! Great story. Thanks for sending it, Pradip

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I agree with Chip. This definitely rises above the typical fire breathing stunt. Thanks, Pradip.

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