A four-year-old girl has needed a skin graft on her hand after her smartwatch exploded and caused three-degree burns.

The incident took place at the home of the girl, named as Yiyi, in the city of Quanzhou in the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian earlier this month.

According to Yiyi’s father Mr Huang, the girl was playing with her three-year-old cousin under the supervision of her grandmother when the watch exploded.

The grandmother said she heard a loud “bang” followed by Yiyi screaming so she rushed into the room to check.

The gran said she found the room covered in thick smoke with a distinctive burning smell. Meanwhile, smoke continued to come out of the damaged smartwatch the girl was wearing.

Yiyi was reportedly crying and trying to remove the watch from her wrist and her grandmother helped to get it off.

The gran then noticed that the girl’s hand was badly burned and she ran her granddaughter’s hand under a cold tap before taking her to hospital for further treatment.

Mr Huang said: “After seeing the child’s burn injuries, my family was very distressed.”

Doctors diagnosed third-degree burns on the patient’s hand and subsequently carried out a skin graft to speed up healing and reduce the risk of infection.

Yiyi remains in hospital under observation following the procedure.

Meanwhile, her father said that he has contacted the unnamed smartwatch manufacturer about compensation and is currently in discussion with them.