A 73-year-old woman sustained burn injuries early Wednesday after lighting a cigarette while wearing an oxygen nasal cannula at the Hospital of the Brothers of Charity in Graz, Austria.
The glowing cigarette ignited the oxygen supply, triggering a flash explosion in the patient's room during the night of July 22, 2026. The woman received initial treatment at the facility before being transferred to LKH Graz for further care of her burns. No other patients or staff were injured in the incident.
The hazards of smoking during supplemental oxygen therapy have proved deadly in Austria before: three people died in 2023 when a patient smoking near oxygen equipment sparked a fatal fire at Mödling Hospital.