Costa fireball victim named as Kirsty Lennon

Kirsty Lennon suffered 30 per cent burns. Picture: contributed

Kirsty Lennon, from Dalkeith, is believed to have been using an aerosol in Costa Coffee while smoking.

Stunned onlookers had told how the 33-year-old ran screaming from the bathroom at the South Bridge cafe “like a human fireball”. She suffered 30 per cent burns in the drama last Tuesday and was taken to St John’s Hospital in Livingston for treatment, but died from her injuries three days later.

Drew Cochrane, 25, manager of Rock ‘n’ Roll tattoo parlour, told the Evening News last week how he had tried to dampen down the flames with his jacket.

The woman emerged from the Costa toilet on fire. Picture: Jane Barlow

He said he was “shocked” by the news and had expected the victim to survive the ordeal.

He said: “Obviously, I saw that she was badly burnt but I didn’t think it would be fatal.

“She was conscious and speaking afterwards. I expected her to need reconstructive surgery but for her to have died is unbelievable.

“Her hands were really burned but her face seemed fine. This is shocking.”

Joined by another man, Mr Cochrane helped snuff out some of the flames while a third man managed to grab a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze engulfing the victim’s legs.

Speaking at the time, he said he had never seen anything like it in his life, comparing her to a “human fireball”.

Witnesses said they had heard chairs scraping back and a child screaming as a woman burst out of the toilet with her trousers on fire.

The clothes on the bottom half of her body had been completely burnt off, they said, while her hands had appeared to be particularly badly burnt.

Friends on Facebook said they were thinking of Ms Lennon’s partner and daughter.

Andy Connelly-Ninno of Moredun, who also witnessed the incident, described the news as “horrible”. The 38-year-old had been sitting at the front window of the shop with his laptop when a staff member started screaming.

He said: “I was in the cafe at the far side. By the time I realised what was going on people were already putting out the flames. I was not sure what was going on. It’s a shame that she was in that situation. It’s horrible. I was told by someone that she had a 50/50 chance but this is still a shock.”

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said emergency services had been called to the cafe after a woman sustained “serious burns”. “She was taken to St John’s in Livingston for treatment, however she sadly died on Friday. A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”

A Costa spokeswoman said: “Our thoughts are with her and her family at this time.”