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A Kentucky man was hospitalized Tuesday with second-degree burns after the battery in his electronic cigarette exploded in his pants pocket.

Employees at the Shell gas station in Owensboro, Kentucky, where the bizarre incident took place, were shocked to see Josh Hamilton's pants suddenly burst into flames.

"I was shocked. I asked, 'You have a bomb in your pocket?' because I couldn't believe it," Manoj Kumar, an employee at the gas station, told NBC affiliate WFIE.

Surveillance video shows Hamilton running outside and struggling to remove his pants before the fire is extinguished by another employee. He was later taken to the hospital and treated for second-degree burns.