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9 million watch video in shock as burned China mum screams in pain while protecting toddler

Injured son pulled out from under blown-off kitchen door after gas leak sparks huge explosion as mother cooks

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Shocked millions watch a video in shock as a badly burned mother screams in pain from a kitchen blast while protecting her toddler son. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
Fran Luin Beijing

Millions online have been moved by a mother in China who was seriously injured in a gas explosion but managed to save her toddler son from danger.

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Huang Jiamei, a 38-year-old housewife from eastern China’s Zhejiang province, was cooking in the kitchen of her home when leaking gas exploded on October 14.

Her two-year-old son, Xu Nuo, was outside the kitchen’s closed door crying for her when the explosion happened. The door was blasted off and the child was trapped under it.

A viral online video shows the family’s blazing flat just seconds after the gas blast. Photo: Weixin
A viral online video shows the family’s blazing flat just seconds after the gas blast. Photo: Weixin

Footage from a home surveillance camera posted by her husband Xu Xiaohui shows Huang running out of the kitchen screaming in pain, but the first thing she did was retrieve her son.

Despite the skin peeling from her arms, she gently held up her son and put him down in a safe spot.

Huang then called Xu, and told neighbours to call an emergency hotline.

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Xu, who works as a hairstylist, immediately rushed home and was shocked to find that his wife’s hair was singed, her skin had fallen from her swollen hands and legs and her face was pale because of the burning heat.

The brave mother lies in her hospital bed after suffering extensive burns to her body. Photo: Weixin
The brave mother lies in her hospital bed after suffering extensive burns to her body. Photo: Weixin
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