Chinese internet chef pays compensation to family of girl killed ‘imitating popcorn trick’
- Representatives of Ms Yeah agree to pay out after 14-year-old dies from injuries sustained in explosion while trying to make snack at home
- Family of girl’s 12-year-old friend, who was badly burnt in blast, still discussing possible payment
An internet celebrity has agreed to pay compensation to a family in east China whose teenage daughter died from injuries suffered in an explosion while trying to make popcorn in a tin can, similar to the way in which the online star did it in a video.
The blast happened while the two girls were heating up alcohol in two tin cans. Both were badly burnt, and Zhezhe died from her injuries on September 5, Yangtze Evening News reported.
In a social media post on September 10, Ms Yeah denied the girls were imitating her video, saying there were many similar clips online and that she had used different methods.
“I used only one tin can and an alcohol lamp, which is safer,” she said. “In Zhezhe and Xiaoyu’s accident, we could clearly see that they used two cans and did not use a lamp.”
She said the accident happened because the girls poured the alcohol into the cans while the flame was lit and a spark ignited a 1kg (2.2lb) bucket of condensed industrial alcohol that was beside them.
She went on to say she would check all of her videos and delete any that might be considered dangerous. She said she would also help the families of the two victims.