This is a shocking moment a chemistry student runs out of a science lab with his head in flames after an explosion at a Chinese university.

The incident was captured by CCTV at the laboratory located in the Southern University of Science and Technology in the sub-provincial city of Shenzhen in the southern province of Guangdong in China.

Authorities did not reveal what the postdoctoral student was working on when the blast happened, but the CCTV camera shows the corridor shortly before the incident happened.

In the background, students can be seen walking along the corridor before suddenly there is an orange glow as flames erupted in one of the laboratories, and a second later a man runs out with his head in flames and the front of his T-shirt completely burnt off.

He seems to be in shock as he alternately tries to beat out the flames on his head and at the same time looks at the damage that has been caused.

Other students seem unsure what to do, but inside the laboratory, another university member starts using a fire extinguisher which then quickly filled the corridor with white smoke as the blaze was extinguished following the incident on 13 July.

Officials confirmed that the explosion had triggered a fire alert with University security teams, but by the time they turned up at the university’s Huiyuan 6 building the blaze had been extinguished.

They said that the laboratory was closed and an investigation is being carried out, and claimed that man who was seen engulfed in flames with a melted T-shirt had suffered only minor injuries that were quickly treated.