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A WOMAN sniffing gas in a coffee shop toilet lit a cigarette and turned herself into a human fireball.

The woman was seriously injured during the incident , which happened yesterday in Edinburgh .

She suffered around 30 per cent burns to her body and is currently being treated in hospital.

The drama unfolded in the Costa Coffee shop in South Bridge around 2.50pm.

Bystanders tried to help the woman and one man threw his jacket over her in an effort to put out the flames.

Medics rushed the woman to St John's hospital in Livingston where she is being treated in a specialist burns unit.

A source said: "The woman was in the toilet sniffing gas from a canister. For some reason she has decided to light a cigarette and it has ignited and set her on fire.

"She has suffered 30 per cent burns to her body. This has been a traumatic incident for the woman and the people in the shop who witnessed this."

Tattoo studio manager Drew Cochrane said: "I was in the shop minding my own business when the fire alarm went off. No one seemed to be moving.

"Then I heard chairs scrape and folk screaming and a woman came bailing out of the toilet on fire.

"Hair on fire, clothes totally burned off. Had to chuck my jacket on her, call an ambulance. Weird day."

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: "Police and emergency services attended a café in South Bridge, Edinburgh following reports that a woman sustained serious burns.

"An inquiry is underway."

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