Korean J Leg Med.  2002 Oct;26(2):60-63.

Two Cases Showing Severe Abdominal Combustion

• Yang KM
• Kang SM
• Lee HY
• Lee WT

Abstract

Two cases showing severe combustion, especially, of the abdomen are presented in this report. The corpse were found in the outdoor field. Their head and four extremities showed relatively weak combustion with their original contour. But, their abdomen including lumbar vertebrae almost totally became ash. Gasoline and Kerosine had been used in each case. At the time of autopsies, I did not understand exactly why these corpse showed peculiar findings like this. Recently one scientist had performed an experiment with pig. The result of the combustion in this reference is same with my cases. According to this experiment, the melted fat leaked from the splitted skin acted as fuel and the burned clothes or blanket acted as a wick. The total combustion of the abdomen is not a suspicious finding of previous open wound before fire. This knowledge is beneficial for the practitioners in the forensic field.

Keyword

Combustion; Abdomen

MeSH Terms

Abdomen
Autopsy
Burns
Cadaver
Extremities
Fires
Gasoline
Head
Kerosene
Lumbar Vertebrae
Skin
Wounds and Injuries
Gasoline
Kerosene