VIDEO: Fire breather sets his face alight during Russian festival performance

MOSCOW: A fire breather set his own face on fire when his daring performance went badly wrong at a festival.

The horrifying incident occurred in Russia’s Kemerovo Oblast region and was filmed by eyewitnesses getting through his routine surrounded by a crowd of spectators.

The footage shows crowds screaming as disaster struck during the daredevil performer’s routine at a festival. He fell to the ground in agony as the flames spread across his face.

He was the third fire breather to set himself alight within minutes at the festival.

The performer’s face catches fire within minutes and he falls to his knees as he tries to extinguish the flames.

But the blaze gets only gets fierce as fuel spills out of his mouth.

Several people from the crowd run towards him and try to put out the flames with clothing. A young woman also throws a bottle of water over the man.

The man was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment to his injuries.

Earlier, another fire breather set his face alight while another’s clothing went up in flames.  However, both were able to put out the fires before any serious damage.

The footage of the incident is going viral after it was posted on video sharing websites.

An internet user wrote: “Silly boys, you’re supposed to train first before performing.

“They must have thought it was a joke and a fun thing to do.”

Another user identified as ‘Selia Ku’ added: “Hope he gets better. Awful what people do to themselves.”

Fire breathing is the dangerous art of creating a stream of fire by spitting out a mist of inflammable fuel through an open flame.

Warning: This video might be distressing to some viewers.