WATCH: Man Sets Himself on Fire Outside White House
An unidentified man set himself on fire early Wednesday afternoon in front of sightseers on the Ellipse park in downtown Washington, D.C., not far from the White House, authorities said.
The Ellipse is a 52-acre park area that lies south of the White House and north of the National Mall, in the heart of Washington. The fire occurred just north of the Washington Monument.
At approximately 12:20 p.m. a man lit himself on fire on the Ellipse near 15th and Constitution Ave., Secret Service personnel are on scene assisting @NatlParkService and @usparkpolicepio in rendering first aid.
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) May 29, 2019
Secret Service spokesman Jeffrey Adams said in a statement that the agency’s Uniformed Division Officers “responded in seconds” after the “male individual lit himself on fire.” Officers then began administering first aid to the man. . .
A spokesman for the Washington Fire Department told CNBC that, “I can confirm that we’ve transported one patient with burns from the Ellipse and we’re now on the scene assisting law enforcement,” referring to Park Police and U.S. Secret Service officers. . .
Alina Berzins, a 17-year-old recent high school graduate from Lorton, Virginia, told CNBC that she was visiting the National Mall with two of her cousins from Bolivia when “we saw this man” on the Ellipse and “he starts running, and then we saw him covered in flames.”
@FoxNews Video of the person that was literally engulfed in flames on the #WhiteHouse lawn. Unbelievable pic.twitter.com/4IS37Rndme
— Krisjan Berzins (@KrisjanBerzins) May 29, 2019
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