A teenage Chinese girl has died after copying an influential YouTuber's video to make popcorn with a tin can and an alcohol lamp.
Zhe Zhe, 14, sustained burns on 96 per cent of her body after the make-shift device exploded when she tried to cook the snack at home with her best friend, Zhe Zhe's father claimed.
The video in question was viewed more than 100 million times when it was first released in 2017.
It was produced by a popular Chinese blogger, known by her internet moniker Ms Yeah, who has more than 40 million fans on various internet outlets including YouTube.
Ms Yeah has apologised to Zhe Zhe's family and offered to compensate them over the girl's death.
Zhe Zhe's friend, 12-year-old Xiao Yu, was also injured in the accident in Zaozhuang, a city in eastern China's Shandong Province, on August 22.
She said she and Zhe Zhe decided to copy the popcorn-making process after watching Ms Yeah's video on Chinese short-video app Douyin, which is known as Tik Tok overseas.
The alcohol exploded as soon as they set it alight, Xiao Yu told a reporter from Qilu Evening News.
Xiao Yu said she and Zhe Zhe were engulfed by fire and had to run out of the house for help.
They were heard by a group of neighbours who were chatting and playing card games, the girl claimed. Onlookers called Zhe Zhe's elder sister, who called for an ambulance.
The two children were taken to Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital.
Zhe Zhe was found to sustain burns on 96 per cent of her body and treated in the intensive care unit for two weeks.
She died on September 5 after suffering from complications caused by serious infections, said Qilu Evening News.
Xiao Yu sustained burns on 13 per cent of her body and is still being hospitalised.
Zhe Zhe's father, Mr Zhou, said there was no safety warnings under the video on Douyin. He said he planned to sue the video platform.
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But he also told Pear Video: 'As a parent, I have unavoidable responsibilities.'
Zhe Zhe's sister said her family had spent more than 200,000 yuan (£22,590) trying to save the child.
The family were helped by kind-hearted web users who donated money to pay for Zhe Zhe's medical bills through a fund-raising campaign.
Ms Yeah is one of China's most popular video bloggers, and one of the few to have built a presence on YouTube, which is banned by Beijing.
The 25-year-old internet influencer, whose real name is Zhou Xiaohui, rose to fame after posting clips of her using basic office equipment to make delicious meals.
Apart from making popcorn in a tin can, she has also cooked Chinese hot pot in a water dispenser and held an afternoon tea party with stationery trays.
Ms Yeah has apologised to Zhe Zhe's family and agreed to compensate them over the matter.
But she argued that the two girls had not been copying her video because they had used different tools.
In a statement on China's Twitter-like Weibo, she also claimed making popcorn this way had not been her original idea and that she had included safety warnings in her video.
'The past few days have been the darkest time of my life,' she said.
'I am willing to pay for Xiao Yu's treatment and do whatever I can for Zhe Zhe's family,' she added.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
