PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police in Portland say a 24-year-old man doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire in a public square beside a statue of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Witnesses told police that several people tried unsuccessfully to douse the flames around noon Wednesday before a passing motorist pulled out a fire extinguisher.
Police believe it was a suicide attempt.
The victim was a local man, but his identity wasn’t released.
The Portland Press Herald quoted witnesses as saying the man was speaking clearly to rescue workers before being taken to the hospital for treatment of his burns. His condition wasn’t known. Police said the man had burns over most of his body, from his neck down.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
