Police now believe that the case of a man who died in Antequera as a result of serious burns was not, as was initially thought, a suicide.
On November 6th in the Cuesta Real area of San Juan, several people reported seeing a man engulfed in flames on the street. He was rushed to the Hospital Comarcal with burns to 80% of his body. He was subsequently transferred to the Hospital Carlos Haya in Málaga.
Unfortunately, the victim did not recover from the serious injuries and died on Friday.
The incident was initially thought to have been a suicide attempt, all available evidence pointing to such a conclusion, but further investigation has revealed a different story.
The National Police discovered that the man, 47 year old J.V.C., had recently bought a quantity of alcohol. Spirit of Rosemary has traditionally been used as a cure for all sorts of aches and pains and it is now thought that the man scrubbed his whole body with the alcohol to combat various ailments, including pain in the lower back.
Unfortunately, having just bathed in alcohol, he then went outside to smoke a cigarette. The alcohol ignited and rapidly engulfed his whole body.