Worker sets himself on fire in Jordan

An employee in Jordan’s northern city of Irbid yesterday died of injuries after he had set himself on fire, Al-Ghad daily has reported.

The 30-year-old Jordanian suicider, who was an employee at the Greater Irbid Municipality’s Environmental Directorate, was reported to have been transferred to the intensive care at Princess Basma hospital in a “critical health condition.”

The city’s police have initiated an investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident.

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“The suicider was married with three children and suffered difficult living conditions,” the Jordanian daily quoted sources close to the dead man as saying.

The spokesman of the municipality, Ismail Houri, said that the incident took place out of regular working hours, stressing that it had no connection to the city.

Several media reports recently reported that the dead man had been protesting against the municipality’s recent reduction of employees’ bonuses.