At the end of 2025, Jarluce Moreira, 38, who lived in a district of Aurora, Ceará, Brazil, suffered a serious accident while using a pressure cooker at home.
The first reports published by Brazilian media outlets claimed, citing accounts from relatives, that Jarluce had placed the still-hot cooker under running tap water, apparently to cool it down more quickly. However, days later, a relative publicly denied this version and said that the cooker was on the stove when it began making a loud noise and exploded. So far, it has not been possible to independently confirm which of the two versions accurately describes what happened.
What has been confirmed is that the internal pressure surged and the cooker exploded right in front of her.
The impact reached her face and body, leaving her with first- and second-degree burns. Relatives and neighbors arrived before the ambulance and helped her while they waited for medical assistance. She was rushed to Fortaleza, where she was admitted to the Instituto Dr. José Frota Hospital, the reference center for burns throughout Ceará, and classified in the red area: the zone reserved for the most critical cases.
Regardless of what caused this accident, pressure cookers require special care. They should never be opened by force while pressure remains inside: you should wait for them to release the pressure safely and check that the valve or indicator has dropped before removing the lid. Nor should they be placed under running water to try to speed up the process, and it is essential to keep the valves clean and regularly check the condition of the sealing gasket.