A strange accident but not at all funny -
Little boy in critical condition with severe burns after church nativity horror
From what I've read, the child's Nativity costume is thought to have caught fire.
This is pure speculation on my part, but I'm wondering if this costume was a sheep or lamb? The reason is that I have read of this sort of accident happening before, twice in fact, where people have suffered burns when an improvised sheep costume caught fire.
Here's one -
RAF pilot set on fire wearing sheep costume
I heard about another such incident when I worked at the local Magistrates' Courts a few years ago, in a case where a young man who was dressed as a sheep (wearing, I think, a piece of the inner part of a duvet) for a fancy dress party was set alight by a friend. He suffered severe burns. This one didn't make the news.
Makes me wonder. The Nativity incident has been put down to the children carrying candles, it wasn't deliberate.