The woman in the viral "Disaster Girl" meme has sold the original photograph for $473,000 (£341,000).

Zoë Roth, now 21, became an internet hit when she was pictured aged four standing in front of a burning building with a devilish smirk on her face.

The image has since become a meme for anyone hoping to depict a disastrous scene or mischievous act.

Ms Roth sold it at an auction on Thursday as a non-fungible token (NFT) - a digital ownership certificate.

In January 2005, Zoë Roth and her father Dave went to see a controlled burn - a fire intentionally started to clear a property - in their neighbourhood in Mebane, North Carolina.

Mr Roth, an amateur photographer, took a photo of his daughter smiling mischievously in front of the blaze.

After winning a photography prize in 2008, the image went viral when it was posted online.

Ms Roth, now a university student, has sold the original copy of her meme as a NFT for 180 Ethereum, a form of cryptocurrency, to a collector called @3FMusic.

Since it first emerged the "Disaster Girl" meme has taken on a life of its own. Meme-makers have edited it into images of natural disasters and accidents such as the Titanic.

Ms Roth says she has enjoyed seeing the hundreds of version of her picture.

"You just make it fit however you want to fit it," she told the New York Times. "I love seeing them because I'd never make any of them myself, but I love seeing how creative people are."

What will the person that bought the NFT use it for now?

DaCharis2016:
What will the person that bought the NFT use it for now?

oyinbo are weird

how much for Osita(pawpaw) meme, The King of meme himself

mayklef:
how much afor Osita(pawpaw) meme, King of meme himself