Man Sets Himself of Fire in Calgary

Sad


Feb 12, 2009 09:15 PM
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THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY – Bystanders in downtown Calgary looked on in horror Thursday as a man doused himself with a flammable liquid, then set himself on fire.

An ambulance that was transporting another patient happened to drive by and attendants jumped out with extinguishers and put out the flames.

They called another ambulance to take the man to hospital.

"Our paramedics worked very aggressively to treat him on the way to hospital," said EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux.

"About 40 per cent of his body had been burned with second-degree burns along his back."

He was listed in serious but stable condition.

Witnesses said the man appeared to be upset and said something about being deported before he set himself alight.

A source told CTV Calgary he was about to be deported to Algeria.

However, Tracie LeBlanc, a spokeswoman with Canada Border Services Agency which enforces deportation orders, would not comment on whether it was investigating the case.

"At this stage CBSA does not have any public information regarding this individual," she said from Ottawa.

Witnesses described it as a horrific scene.

"I see some guy, he's in flames, all his body, backpack," said Fernando Sanchez, who captured the incident on his video camera.

"I was very scared because all of his body is in flames."

 

really, the guy that made the video just happened to be in the right spot at the right time with a video in a government office building? hmmmm