Mombasa town centre on Thursday afternoon witnessed a bizarre incident after a 28-year-old man set himself ablaze at the Jomo Kenyatta Roundabout in the Mwembe Tayari area.
The man, who has since been identified as Robert Kioko, doused paraffin on his clothes before climbing to the top of the structure located in the middle of the roundabout.
Curious onlookers were stunned, as Kioko who was holding a Kenyan flag in his left hand, began shouting and threatening to burn himself.
In a split of second, his entire body was engulfed in a huge flame, before he fell off from where he was standing to the ground.
The video of that incident has since gone viral on all social media platforms.
Mombasa residents milled around him and helped put off the fire.
His clothes were completely burnt, and he was badly injured after he sustained at least 50 per cent burns on his back, hands and thighs.
“I’m not a thief, I have not stolen from anyone. I’m protesting because Raila’s victory (in the last presidential election) was stolen,” he kept shouting as he wriggled in pain when the onlookers questioned him.
Mombasa Urban OCPD Maxwell Agoro confirmed to the Star that the man had been rescued and rushed to the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital where he is undergoing medication.
“We were called to that scene and rescued him. We are now waiting for a report to be finalized on what was the motive behind his decision to set himself ablaze,” he said.
Agoro added that they cannot rule out depression because many people are struggling.
“We cannot rule out anything. It could be depression because right now you might think someone is okay, but they are struggling,” he said.
Other unconfirmed reports indicate that Kioko is a student at the Technical University of Mombasa pursuing an engineering course.
He is said to have attempted to commit suicide due to hard economic times and a lack of money to sustain him through college
