The National Police launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a harrowing scene in Cartagena when a man poured petrol on himself and set himself on fire in the middle of a busy street in the city.
According to witnesses, the man was walking calmly down the street at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, “carrying a bottle that had petrol inside,” and when he reached calle Santa Florentina, near Plaza Juan XXIII in Cartagena, he poured the fuel on himself, and he set himself on fire.
“He didn’t say anything before setting himself on fire,” according to police sources. The initial incident is being treated as a suicide, and, according to the police, investigators are considering that “he is a middle-aged man, about 50 years old,” who could be “a homeless man” or “an immigrant from a North African country”, although the investigators are not ruling anything out.
A video circulating on social media shows the incident as it infolded, sparking panic in the streets, and then several people trying to help extinguish the flames.
A spokesperson for the 112 emergency services confirmed that the alleged suicidal individual practically died instantly: “Everything was quick and very shocking. When the paramedics arrived they tried to revive him by performing CPR, but the injuries were very serious and he died without reaching transfer to a hospital”.
Next to a table on the terrace of a cafeteria, near the old Centro bookstore, the National Police found some keys, a plastic bottle containing fuel and a clipper-type lighter.
