A man who was about to be deported decided to set himself on fire at an airport in Rome on Thursday. The incident was caught on video.
The man from the Ivory Coast was in the main international departure terminal of Fiumicino airport in Rome when he set himself on fire because he was supposed to be deported, the BBC reports.
The man hadn't gone through security when he pulled the stunt. A police officer noticed the man cover himself in fuel which he had in his suitcase. He had a lighter in his hand and the officer tried to stop him but he was too late.
Customs official Tiziana Garner said that the officer's arm went on fire, so she helped him take off his burning shirt.
When she noticed the Ivorian man on fire, she used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames on his body. She believes the young man was about 19 years old. He is believed to be badly burned and in serious condition.
Witnesses told Sky News about what they saw.
"I was heading to check in when all of a sudden I heard screaming and shouting," Pasquale Pierri said. "The next thing I saw was the police surrounding someone and there was a horrible smell of smoke in the air. People were screaming because no one knew what had happened and I think the first suggestion was that it might have been a terror attack."
"There was a lot of shouting and police running after someone, that was all I saw," Silvana Urso said."There was a smell of smoke and then police were telling us to evacuate the terminal because there had been an incident. It was only when I was outside that I heard a man had set himself on fire."
The Ivorian man and the police officer were taken to a hospital. The area of the airport where the incident took place has been reopened to the public.
It is common for immigrants to illegally cross the Mediterranean from Africa. The 19-year-old man had arrived from Holland earlier in the week and was due to board a flight to Amsterdam before he set himself on fire.
"One can only imagine the desperation and frustration he must have faced to carry out such an act," an Italian Refugee Council spokesperson told Sky News.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
