Man sets self ablaze in a public building in USA

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Man Sets Self Ablaze in Calif. City Hall

Apr 20, 12:53 AM EDT

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- A man set himself on fire inside City Hall

on Thursday and was in critical but stable condition at a hospital,

police said.

 

Haouy Nguyen, 50, of Fountain Valley, walked into the building lobby

around 4 p.m., approached an information desk and set himself ablaze,

said police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt.

 

Pratt said she didn't know how he set the fire, but a security guard

who tackled the man and extinguished the fire reported smelling gasoline.

 

Nguyen had burns to 20 percent of his body, Zapalski said. The

security guard suffered minor burns to his hand, she said.

 

During the fire, a suspicious package was discovered and City Hall was

evacuated. A bomb squad later determined the package was harmless. It

wasn't known if the package was connected to the man. Zapalski did not

know what was in the package.

 

Long Beach is a major port city about 20 miles south of Los Angeles.