Man Accidentally Blows Up Kitchen Chasing Fly With Electric Swatter

A leaky gas canister was to blame for the blast in Parcoul-Chenaud, France.
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An 82-year-old man in France accidentally blew up his own kitchen after he tried to kill a fly with an electric swatter, igniting a leaking gas canister.

The electric charge from the tennis racket-style device sparked the leaked gas and caused Friday night’s explosion at the house in Parcoul-Chenaud, some 55 miles northeast of Bordeaux, reported the Sud-Ouest news website.

The unidentified man suffered burns to his hand after he threw himself onto the ground, per the BBC. He was hospitalized and then relocated to a local campsite until the damage to the kitchen is repaired, according to France Bleu.

Racket-style electric swatters are generally safe when used correctly. Most are powered by batteries and zap bugs with a swing of the device.

However, a woman in Greece was reportedly burned after she used one near her legs that she’d rubbed with an alcohol solution to treat mosquito bites, according to a report published in the Euro-Mediterranean Council for Burns and Fire Disasters’ 2014 Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters.

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