It wasn’t, unfortunately, in a controlled environment where a 13-year-old got a harsh chemistry lesson about the power of flammable liquids in Svay Rieng province.

Cops say the girl was filling up petrol bottles on Tuesday in Svay Tiep district near her grandmother’s cooker when some of the stuff caught flame.

Villagers tried to douse the blaze, but it was too late as the house was soon destroyed. When officers came they saw the victim off to hospital for burn treatment.

Koh Santepheap