A COUPLE ducked for cover when a jar candle exploded just feet away, showering molten wax and glass across the room.
Gladys and Richard Kruger said they were lucky not to be injured or for their home to be burned down as a result of the bizarre accident.
The couple from Dornoch, Sutherland, claim the culprit was a large jar candle bought from Home Bargains.
Gladys, 53, and Richard, 57, bought the candle from the same Tain store where a man recently purchased a flask which he claimed exploded, leaving him with severe burns.
The Kruger’s pictures of the aftermath, although blurred, show blobs of pink candle wax spattered on the walls. There is also a scorch mark from where the candle was sat.
Another picture shows the shattered remains of the jar in which the candle was held.
The couple’s daughter-in-law, Kirsty Bogue, took to Facebook on January 7 to complain to the discount store saying the incident was “absolutely shocking”.
She wrote: “Candle purchased from Home Bargains Tain store that my mother in-law received as a present this is the outcome of it being lit tonight! Absolutely shocking!
“Luckily my father in law who was sitting close by didn’t get any shards of glass in his face from the explosion of the glass which it was in and thankfully there was no blaze as it was attended to very quickly.
“Had this been lit throughout the day whilst busy cleaning the house hoovering another room, it could have easily done more damage as it has already burnt the area which it was sitting in.
“Surely this could have been avoided if you sold these candles in proper heat resistant glass!”
Vicky Bain responded: “What the hell! That’s shocking! Glad they are all ok.”
Lorna Jensen commented: “That’s terrible absolutely shocking.”
Wendy Stewart said: “I had one in bathroom, burned through but didn’t explode.”
Louise Lee commented: “The same thing happened to mine too.”
Home Bargains commented on the post saying that they would look into the incident.
Their comment said: “Hello. I am sorry to hear this. Can you please send more information on this across to our Customer Services Team and we can look into this for you?”
Speaking today, Gladys described the ordeal and how things could have gone so much worse.
She said: “We were just sitting there when out of the blue there was an explosion.
“It all happened so quickly and we were very lucky because Richard was sitting quite close to it, the house could have been burnt.
“It could have sliced his face or lost his eyesight.”
Home Bargains advised Kirsty to get in touch. A spokeswoman said: “We encourage this customer to contact our Customer Support team so we can investigate the product matter further.”
Last week, it was reported that a fisherman, also from Sutherland, suffered horrific burns allegedly from a Home Bargains flask.
Lee Hunter Shearer said the flask broke off like a “bullet” as he was in agonising pain from the incident. Home Bargains declined to comment on his incident.
