A middle-aged man was seen setting himself on fire after filling a jerry can with petrol at a nearby filling station in Weltevredenpark, Roodepoort, yesterday morning.

Witnesses state that the man walked up to a petrol attendant, filled the jerry can with fuel, walked towards the road, and proceeded to empty the can over himself.

“The people from the filling station immediately rushed towards the man, but he had already used something to set himself on fire,” exclaimed Kimberley Hankinson, who was on her way home from dropping off her children at school when she witnessed the incident.

A general consensus of shock and terror described the scene as eyewitnesses shared their experiences.

Hanri van Niekerk from Netcare911 explained the man started running down the street the moment he set himself on fire.

“Our medics treated him on scene and then rushed him to the nearest state hospital for further treatment,” she stated. The man likely sustained severe burns over 80% of his body.

The Roodepoort Northsider contacted the Department of Health to find out how the man is doing, but no comment was received by the time of publishing.