Tunisian man sets himself ablaze

TUNIS: A Tunisian man suffered major burns on Saturday after he set himself on fire, witnesses and medics said, days after another 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 AFP.

The man, whose motives are still unknown, "suffered third degree burns and was rushed to hospital", a civil defence spokesman added.

A witness, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man had arrived at the iconic 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.