Man sets himself ablaze in Sydney against immigration

A man set himself on fire in Sydney on Friday in protest against the Department of Immigration, police said. The man, aged around 30, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight on Lee Street near the department building, reports the Guardian.

Superintendent David Donohue could not confirm if the man was an asylum seeker or had been through the immigration system.

Donohue said the man was "deeply disturbed and upset" and "would have killed himself" if police had not doused him with a fire extinguisher.