Human Torch Ignited by Police
- Filed under: Japan, News
- Date: May 12, 2008 18:02 JST
- Tags: Crime, Nagoya, No Smoking, Police, Self Immolation
Mainichi reports that a man who doused himself in kerosene after police responded to a domestic altercation, and was subsequently taken into custody by police, was then offered a light for a cigarette; he caught fire, violently, and later died in hospital. The police were kind enough to provide both cigarettes and lighter. The various policemen involved, when asked about just how he caught fire, responded that they “weren’t looking”. Currently, the possibility that some ash from his spent cigarette got into his clothes is being investigated. Nagoya police will surely have to answer some interesting questions as a result of this.
The article drily remarks that the station was a no smoking area. The station chief also has this to add: “For him to come into the station without changing, and be permitted to smoke in a no smoking station, was inappropriate”.
