A woman is fighting for her life in a German hospital after appearing to spontaneously combust while sitting on a park bench.

Flames sprouted from her as a horrified passerby rushed to her and used his jacket to beat out the fire. But she was severely burned over most of her body.

The incident occurred in Flensburg, in the north of Germany, on Monday evening. The victim is in her 40's and comes from Mauritius.

Police tape cordons off the playground bench where the woman was suddenly engulfed in flames

After being rushed to the local hospital she was later flown by air ambulance to a specialist burns unit in Lubeck where she remains in a critical condition.

'The victim has lived in Flensburg for a long time and has family here,' said the local prosecutor Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt who is probing the bizarre blaze.

Eye witnesses told local media that the woman didn't make a sound as the flames engulfed her.

Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the term used when a human body goes up in flames without an apparent external source of ignition.

SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION - PHENOMENON OR FRAUD? Spontaneous human combustion has been implied as a cause if death in a number of documented cases where police have found corpses burned almost to ashes - but without an apparent external source of ignition. An estimated 200 cases have been found throughout history and victims are often elderly, sick, or under the influence of alcohol, which could explain why they have not been able to escape the flames. Puzzled scientists have come up with the ‘wick theory’ to explain such events. The theory is that the human body can become an ‘inside out’ candle. The person’s clothes are the wick, while their body fat is the wax or flammable substance, that keeps the blaze going. Limbs may be left intact because of the temperature gradient, with the bottom half of the body being cooler than the top. The combustion would not be ‘spontaneous’ however, because it would need an external source to start it off, such as a cigarette. Some have suggested that static electricity could cause the necessary spark. Advertisement

Forensic investigations have attempted to analyze reported instances of SHC and have resulted in theories regarding potential causes.

These include victim behaviour and habits, alcohol consumption and proximity to potential sources of ignition, as well as the behaviour of fires that consume melted fats.