Advertisement

One dead after teens set themselves on fire

Author thumbnail
One dead after teens set themselves on fire

Two German teenagers set themselves on fire in an apparent suicide bid which left one of them dead and the other seriously hurt, prosecutors in North Rhine-Westphalia said Thursday.

Advertisement

The 16-year-old boy died at the scene, while a 13-year-old girl was in hospital with severe burns.

"A witness heard shouting, ran to the scene were the two youths were on fire, and called for help," said senior public prosecutor Werner Wolff.

There was no indication that anyone else was involved in the fire, he added. The apparent suicide bid happened Tuesday in a field in the small village of Eslohe, near Dortmund, in western Germany.

It was not immediately known why the youths would have wanted to kill themselves, Wolff said.

The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung reported that no suicide note had been found and authorities were examining computers and cell phones belonging to the two students.

Investigators were hoping to eventually speak to the girl, but she was so badly hurt that she couldn’t speak, the newspaper reported.

Mayor Stephan Kersting said he hoped the small size of the community would help residents to cope with the incident.

"You know the families, you know the children. We express our condolences to the families," he said. "The whole community is in shock."

AFP/The Local/mdm

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also