Cavernous hemangioma is the most common benign tumour of the liver and is found quite commonly during abdominal ultrasonography performed for other diseases. It is often asymptomatic and undergoes enlargement in fewer than 10% of cases. Spontaneous rupture of a giant hepatic hemangioma (diameter > 4 cm) with hemoperitoneum occurs very rarely. Only 32 cases have been reported in a recent review of the medical literature, with an operative mortality of more than 35%. We describe a new case of a giant subcapsular hemangioma localised in hepatic segments II and III in an 84-year-old woman, which ruptured spontaneously into the abdominal cavity and presented with hemoperitoneum and hypovolaemic shock. The hemangioma was diagnosed preoperatively by spiral CAT and treated successfully with emergency hepatic bisegmentectomy.