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Video credit: Fox News
The man who set himself on fire outside the White House has died due to severe injuries.
Identified by US Park Police as Arnav Gupta, the 33-year-old died in the hospital on Thursday. According to police, Gupta was hallucinating at the time of the incident as he had taken the drug K2, laced with PCP.
Gupta, from Bethesda, Maryland, had been reported missing by his family earlier that day after he left home at 9.20am.
Three hours later, he was seen setting himself ablaze on a lawn at Ellipse Park near the White House. Gupta’s motive behind the act isn’t known yet.
According to a police source, he was hallucinating on synthetic marijuana, K2, and had also taken Phencyclidine, commonly known as angel dust or PCP, TMZ reported Thursday.
There have been several instances of graphic suicides linked to consumption of K2, the most famous being of Aaron Hernandez – the former NFL player who hanged himself in jail.
Gupta’s horrifying suicide was caught on camera by multiple people present at the scene.
In the now-viral video footages online, Gupta can be seen walking across a lawn near the Washington Mall, less than a mile from the White House, with his body engulfed in flames.
He was approached by the secret service staff who put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher just a few moments later.
According to some reports, Gupta had on himself a protective suit which gave him some protection from the fire. But he still received severe burns on 85 per cent of his body, which later became the cause of his death.
He was at once taken to a nearby hospital with ‘life-threatening’ injuries. A suspicious package on fire was also found near him which is now under investigation.
Over 70 officers from multiple agencies rushed to the scene as soon as they got sight of him.
Though the area had several visitors and tourists at the time, no other injuries were reported.
At the time of the incident, President Trump was in the Oval Office to swear-in the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the US, according to his official schedule.
Hogan Gidley, the White House spokesman, hasn’t yet commented on the incident.
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