Tunisian man dies in hospital after setting himself on fire
- The man, whose motives are unknown, doused himself with flammable material which he set on fire with a lighter, a witness said
- Last week a man wounded in the 2011 revolution burned himself alive after the government failed to provide compensation, his family said
A Tunisian man died in hospital on Saturday after setting himself on fire, witnesses and doctors said, days after another man burned himself alive to protest living conditions.
Both acts recall the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, the street seller whose suicide by fire on December 17, 2010 launched Tunisia’s revolution which in turn sparked the Arab spring that toppled several autocratic leaders in the region.
On Saturday, a 35-year-old man “set himself on fire on Habib Bourguiba Avenue” in the centre of Tunis, the civil defence told Agence France-Presse.
The man, whose motives are still unknown, “suffered third-degree burns and was rushed to hospital”, a civil defence spokesman added.
Local media including state television later reported that he had died of his injuries.
A witness, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man had arrived at the avenue in central Tunis accompanied by a younger man and tried to attract the attention of some journalists who were present there.
The man then doused himself with flammable material which he set on fire with a lighter, the witness said.