Asylum seeker sets himself on fire in German town of Gaimerheim
GETTY FILE PIC The migrant (not pictured) set himself on fire in the German town of Gaimerheim
The 19-year-old Afghan man tried to kill himself in the German town of Gaimerheim, near the Audi factory town of Ingolstadt. He walked into a supermarket loading area near to the asylum camp where he was living, poured the petrol over himself and set it ablaze, according to reports
Workers in the store used fire extinguishers to try to save him. He was taken by ambulance to a burns unit nearby where his condition is critical. A knife was discovered on the asylum seeker.
GETTY Angela Merkel has come under increasing pressure for her open-border migration policiy
He was found to have bought the petrol at a nearby service station earlier on Monday, just minutes before his attempted suicide. Police have said they have not yet determined a motive. The incident comes as Angela Merkel faces mounting pressure over her open-door immigrations policies that have seen millions of migrants travel to Germany in the past two years.
Last month, the German Chancellor was left squirming after an enraged party member told her on a video link that her refugee policy had left him "afraid for the safety and future of my four children". The disillusioned father vented his despair at the refugee policy that has riven the country, caused neo-Nazi violence to increase and lured her supporters into the arms of right-wing anti-immigrant parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD.) The father, a professor from the Rheingau region of western Germany, said to her: “I’m a father of four children. I'd much rather be sitting in an armchair right now and enjoy the rest of the evening… The only reason I am here is that for the first time in my life I am truly afraid. “Afraid for the future of my children, afraid for the stability of our society, afraid for the security. Afraid that we won't be able to get a handle on what started in the autumn of 2015.” He added: “Why not finally agree that people don't want your refugee policy, that people actually require a very different course of refugee policy? "For the first time in my life I fear for the safety and the future of my children."
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