Senegalese man sets himself on fire, second in a week
A Senegalese man set himself on fire Friday near the presidential palace in Dakar, a week after a retired soldier did the same near the presidential office. Cheikh Amadou Tidiane Ba was being treated overnight in hospital for severe burns.
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Ba’s family and friends spent Friday night outside the hospital, according to correspondent Sheriff Bojang in Dakar.
His father told reporters outside the hospital that his son was not a politician, and said he did not know why his son set himself on fire. Ba, 33, managed a shop in a Dakar suburb.
Ba’s suicide attempt comes just days after a former soldier, Oumar Bocoum, died of burns he received when he set himself on fire.
"I have nothing to do on Earth anymore,” he had told a Senegalese daily. “Without work, I am nothing. My country does nothing for me after what I did for my country."
“There is increasing anger and frustration in Dakar over frequent power cuts, joblessness and high cost of living,” Bojang said.
Revolts in Tunisia, that ultimately ended up toppling the government, started when an unemployed man set himself on fire in Tunis.
His death has become something of a symbol for people's grievances against unemployment and government corruption.
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