ENGLISH NEWS: Man fighting for life after ‘pouring petrol over himself and setting himself on fire’

A MAN is fighting for his life after setting himself on fire outside a pub in south-east London, England.

As reported by several witnesses, armed with two petrol cans, the man set himself ablaze in the car park of the Queen’s Head in Chislehurst just before 9pm on Sunday (December 8). Three customers and a bouncer ran to the man’s rescue, pulling his burning clothes off and desperately trying to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Officers and the London Ambulance Service rushed to the scene after they were summoned to reports of ‘a man committing self-harm’. Paramedics treated the man at the scene before transferring him to a south London hospital where he remains in critical condition.

The man is said to have poured petrol on himself in the pub’s car park in front of horrified observers. A witness told The Sun that if it wasn’t for the actions of the quick thinking customers that the man would have died. He added that there were two petrol cans in the man’s bag which also caught fire. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that there is no suspicion of a crime, although a forensic investigation van was seen on the high street last night.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said:

“We were called at 9.04pm this evening (December 8) to reports of an incident on High Road, Chislehurst. We dispatched a number of resources to the scene including an incident response officer, ambulance crews and medics in response cars. We also dispatched a trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance.

“We treated a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre.”

As Euro Weekly News understands, the man’s name and age have not been revealed and the police have launched an investigation to find out why the man decided to set himself on fire.