Man ignites himself at court
A MAN set himself alight outside Brisbane's main court complex yesterday, horrifying bystanders as flames engulfed him.
A MAN set himself alight outside Brisbane's main court complex yesterday, horrifying bystanders as flames engulfed him.
Traffic was brought to a standstill in busy George Street, outside the Supreme and District courts centre, while ambulance crews applied first aid before the man was rushed to hospital.
The emergency began at about 2pm, when the 60-year-old was seen to pour methylated spirits over himself and build what one witness described as a "little barbecue" of paper.
Firefighters screened the burned man with blankets as he was loaded into an ambulance. His condition was described as critical, with burns to 75 per cent of his body, some to the full thickness of skin tissue.
One witness told AAP that the man had a "calm expression" before igniting his spirit-soaked clothing with a cigarette lighter.
He was clinging to life last night in Royal Brisbane Hospital.
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