14YO Girl Tried Following DIY Popcorn Video But it Exploded In Her Face & Killed Her

Learning how to do cool DIY tricks by watching tutorials on the internet is a pretty popular pastime among young people nowadays.

There are tons of amazing things that you can create and achieve just by watching a simple 5-minute video. Plus, there’s no harm in learning some essential skills like cooking and sewing while having some fun at the same time, right?

Wrong. There can actually be a lot of harm in it.

Unfortunately, two young girls from China had to find that out the hard way, during a DIY session that went horribly wrong.

Girl Dies After DIY Popcorn Maker Explodes

A girl in China died on 5 September 2019, after her attempt to make DIY popcorn with her friend went south.

14-year-old Zhou and her 12-year-old friend, Peng, were trying to follow a Youtube tutorial that went viral, which taught viewers to make popcorn using a drink can.

The two girls were in for a nasty shock when their apparatus suddenly exploded, burning both of them in the process.

They were immediately taken to the hospital. Peng suffered a few burns, but she was not in critical condition and managed to pull through.

However, Zhou, on the other hand, suffered burns on 96% of her body and she had to be kept under observation in the intensive care unit.

Unfortunately, the doctors’ efforts to treat her injuries were in vain, and she passed away two weeks later.

The girls were brought to the hospital on 22 August.

Video Featured Making Popcorn Using a Drink Can

The video that the girls were attempting to follow was posted by a popular YouTuber from China, who runs the channel “Ms Yeah Official Channel“.

She gained a large following from her office food series.

This video showed viewers how to make DIY homemade popcorn, using items like a soda can, alcohol burner and a vessel taken from a water dispenser to make homemade popcorn.

The YouTuber can be seen pouring sugar and butter into the soda can before lighting the fire.

The two girls may not have followed the video exactly, and there is a possibility that they made their own modifications to it.

The explosion most likely occurred because of the alcohol inside the alcohol burner.

According to SET News, Zhou’s mother said, “The child is young and has no safety concept. As long as she feels fresh and fun, she will imitate the content of the film.”

The YouTuber Is Heartbroken Over The Incident

After news about the incident went viral, many netizens started to blame Ms Yeah for giving a bad demonstration and even started calling her a “murderer”.

She was quiet about it at first, but finally broke her silence on 10 September, with a long letter posted on Weibo.

She wrote that the past few days had been the darkest moments of her life.

“I have prayed many times for a miracle to happen to Zhe Zhe, but God did not show pity. I am heartbroken,” she said.

She also promised to take responsibility for Peng’s treatments and would do her best to ensure that her family received the help they needed.

Ms Yeah also clarified that the two girls were not imitating her tutorial. In her video, she had used a teapot warmer to heat up the corn kernels in a can, which was carefully placed on the tripod of the tea warmer.

However, the girls had used two cans instead, and one of them had been cut in a peculiar way.

She is convinced that the two girls were not referring to her video, but were following the instructions of another similar video about DIY popcorn making.

She also said that she was going to stop making videos.

I guess sometimes, it’s better to show your support to your favourite YouTubers by simply watching their tricks and stunts, instead of trying it out yourself.

After all, just because they didn’t get hurt, it doesn’t mean that you won’t. And, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.