"I'm going to the bar and I'll set the owner on fire, because he didn't pay me."
So, before making the insane gesture in which he and an agent were seriously injured, this morning at 6.30 the 50-year-old from Assemini alerted 113. According to what we learn he had worked as a worker for a company owned by the owner of the bar and demanded an overdue payment from the latter.
The police immediately sent a flying squad patrols to the scene which reached via del Carmine, where the restaurant is located. The officers who arrived on the scene identified the man, he had a lighter in his hand and a bucket full of petrol next to him.
The long persuasion of the policemen was useless. With an unexpected gesture, the 50-year-old started the fire but was immediately enveloped by the blaze, the patrol leader tried to save him but he too was involved. The other policeman managed to put out the fire using the service fire extinguisher and a fire hydrant.
Other police patrols and 118 ambulances arrived at the bar. The agent was transported to the Policlinico di Monserrato and was subsequently transferred to the Sassari burn center. The 50-year-old was instead hospitalized at Brotzu. Both in red code.
The incident was also commented by the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese: "I express my closeness to the agent
of the State Police was seriously burned in the Cagliari municipality of Assemini to save a man who set himself on fire ". Once again, the number one of the Interior Ministry underlined," the spirit of self-denial and the courage of the women and men of the Police Forces , always alongside the citizens, also putting their personal safety at risk ".
(Unioneonline / L)
