A 15-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns to her hands and thighs after the laptop she was using exploded.

Nikita Sooklal, the daughter of a foreign affairs official based in Pretoria, South Africa, is now in hospital being treated for her injuries.

Nikita had borrowed her father's laptop during her lunch break to access the Net - but five minutes later the computer exploded.

Her mother told the newspaper that she heard a "big bang" and immediately rushed downstairs. Nikita was screaming, said her mum, and "her top was burning and the skin around her hands was hanging loose, clearly burned."

The full story can be read here. ®