Russian police are investigating a sinister new craze sweeping the internet which urges children to become 'fire fairies' - by secretly turn on the gas rings on kitchen cookers.
The social media scam is created to look like a harmless prank modelled on popular animated series 'Winx Club: School of Witches'.
But children have been left seriously injured after trying to take part in the sickening 'game'.
Five-year-old Sofia Ezhova was severely burned after switching on a gas oven while playing a fairy game.
Little girls are told: "At midnight when everybody is asleep, get up from your bed and go around the room three times, then say the magical words: 'Alfey kingdom, sweet little fairies, give me the power, I'm asking you.'
"Then go to the kitchen silently, so no one notices you or the magic of the words will disappear.
"Switch on the gas stove, all four burners. But do not light it. You don't want to get burns, do you? Then go to sleep.
"The magic gas will come to you, you will breathe it while sleeping and in the morning, when you wake up, say: 'Thank you Alfeya, I've become a fairy.'
"And you will became a real fairy of fire."
The appalling 'game' was highlighted by police following complaints from parents in the Vladimir region of Russia, said Lt-Col Andrei Tutuev.
State investigator Irina Minina warned: "It could be some kind of 'suicide game'.
"We are searching for those who are spreading these messages."
The Russian Investigative Committee - equivalent of the FBI - believes the real aim may be to spark panic among parents.
Concern is rising in Russia over internet 'games' encouraging children to take their own lives.
One Russian search engine had tens of thousands of requests in the last month from children on "how to become a fairy", amid fears young people could be exploited.
A mother said: "I woke up in the night and felt the strong smell of gas.
"My daughter, seven, had just left the kitchen and went to her room.
"It turned out that she had read in the Internet that to become the fairy of fire you need to go to the kitchen when everyone is asleep and switch on the gas oven.
"If I had not gone to check, our family of eight would not wake up in the morning.
"I talked to her and she promised not to hide her plans from me and tell me everything."
MP Irina Yarovaya called such incitement to death as the "remote manipulation of the human consciousness" and said existing laws were inadequate.
"It is being done not by amateurs, but professionals," she said.
A company called Rainbow is responsible for the Winx Club brand on social media in Russia, according to reports.
CEO Iginio Straffi appealed to the Moscow prosecutor's office to demand criminal action against the creators of the social media scams.
"Rainbow deeply regrets the distribution of material, which apparently contains instructions for committing suicide and uses Winx Club characters," he said.
"The company Rainbow, which products are aimed at promoting the values of kindness in children, is shocked by such cynical materials apparently aimed at causing harm to children."
