This is the bizarre moment a fire breathing squid engulfs a mother and daughter in flames – sending them running off down the street.

The squid was being held in the hands of a woman who was cooking it up as a snack apparently for herself and the other woman and child using an alcohol lamp.

She was squatting down in the doorway of the shop where she worked in order to cook up the food in the prefecture-level city of Jieyang in China’s eastern Guangdong Province.

As it was not fully cooked and the lamp was starting to run low, she decided to add a little bit of extra fuel while the flame was still burning.

But this ignited the liquid which shot over the squid, sending flames then flying over the woman and child, who turn and run off down the street in terror.

The panic shop assistant runs after them, but then runs back to grab a bowl and put water in it before then returning with wet rags to put on the child.

Local security services which are investigating the incident say that all three suffered alcohol burns but it was not revealed how severe.