SAN JUAN - A SELF-DESCRIBED spiritual healer accidentally dropped a candle into a tub where a client was bathing in alcohol on Friday, leaving her with burns over half her body, police said.

The victim, 28-year-old Stephanie Rodriguez Pizarro, sought the spiritual treatment because of marital and financial troubles, according to police spokesman Maria del Pilar Bon.

The candle ignited the bath and set Ms Rodriguez on fire inside a San Juan housing project. She was hospitalised in serious condition on Friday afternoon with second-degree burns covering much of her body.

The healer, Jose Cadiz Tapia, 46, was also taken to the hospital for burns on his arms and torso after he tried to help the woman.

Police were investigating what substances might have used in the bath. -- AP