SAO PAULO, Jan 23, 2009 (AFP) - A 20-year-old brazilian model dies in hospital after an infection forced doctors to amputate her hands and feet.

The 20-year-old Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa - Photo : HO/AFP

Bridi this month had to undergo operations to sever both hands and feet after a urinary tract infection spread and stopped circulation in the extremities of her limbs.

She was diagnosed with the Pseudomonas aeroginosa bacterium, which can often prove fatal.

Doctors at the Dorio Silva Hospital in Serra, in Brazil's southeastern state of Espirito Santo, were treating her.

A medical bulletin by the establishment said she was in a serious condition but would survive. She was awake, but being kept on artificial respiration.

Bridi was an up-and-coming model before the tragedy struck. She twice made it into the national finals for the Miss World contest, and last year traveled to China to participate in the Miss Bikini International paegant.