It was indeed a bizarre spectacle in Kenya on Thursday, where a 44 seconds video circulating online captured a man pouring a liquid substance suspected to be flammable on his body before setting himself ablaze.
The Kenyan man was said to be protesting the high cost of living in the coastal city of Mombasa, where he climbed on top of a statue in the middle of a busy roundabout.
The video, which has since gone viral, showed the man holding the Kenyan flag as he set himself on fire.
Onlookers did not just gather, but they also rescued him by helping to put out the fire, and was taken to the nearby Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, where he is being treated.
The man, who has not been named, told eyewitnesses he was protesting against the high cost of living and last year’s “stolen” presidential election in which the opposition leader Raila Odinga lost to President William Ruto.
The victory was upheld in court, which dismissed Odinga’s claims of irregularities.