E-cigarette shoots fireworks when it explodes in shop assistant's pocket

E-cigarette shoots fireworks when it explodes in shop assistant’s pocket

The hapless employee was left with painful burns.

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31-year-old Otis Gooding was serving a customer in a busy wine store on Wednesday when a bright spark erupted from his pants pocket.

Footage from the store security camera shows Otis’s pocket lighting up like a firework, shooting sparks and smoke all around the shop as customers flee for cover.

Otis’s co-worker told CNN that normally e-cigarette devices weren’t that powerful – but this particular one had been customised to have a higher voltage.

‘Unfortunately there was nothing we could do but call the police,’ he says.

Otis was taken to hospital where he is receiving treatment for third-degree burns to his thigh and hand.