A family breakfast turned into a horror film when a waitress tried to refill a table burner and sprayed the lit fuel straight over a diner, engulfing her in flames.
Janeth Mylene Suárez Saavedra, 57, suffered fatal burns to around 70 percent of her body after the liquid hit her hair, face, neck and clothes.
She fought for life for 11 days in intensive care before succumbing to her injuries.
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Her husband was also burned as he and other diners desperately tried to smother the blaze.
The horror unfolded at the Hello Life restaurant in Bucaramanga, Colombia, on the morning of 2 October.
The environmental engineer arrived with her husband, José Luis Rodríguez, a former candidate for mayor of their hometown of Socorro, at around 10am.
A female employee began manipulating a fuelled table lamp known as a pebetero when tragedy struck.
Cousin Claudia Vega Saavedra told local radio: “One of the employees was handling a lamp that works with some type of fuel.
“Something went wrong and there was an explosion that hit my cousin, who was wearing sportswear.”
Witnesses said the burning liquid set her hair and clothing alight within seconds.
Her husband and a woman at the next table immediately helped to beat the flames, suffering burns themselves in the process.
While still conscious, she told medics it was an accident and asked for one of her sons.
That son, a doctor, reached the restaurant before the paramedics.
She was taken to the International Hospital of Colombia, placed in an induced coma, and died in the early hours of 13 October.
Her husband was treated in the burns unit and discharged within hours.
The restaurant continued operating and only contacted the family two days later, issuing a statement after the incident was covered in the media.
Hello Life said: “We express our most sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mrs Janeth Mylene Suárez Saavedra.
“We deeply regret her death and express our solidarity with the pain her family is going through.”
It added: “We have the greatest interest in clarifying what happened.
“We are at the disposal of the authorities to provide the information they require.”
Funeral rites take place at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Jardines La Colina memorial park today at 2pm, as reported by Need To Know.
The investigation continues.
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