Café owner relives the horrific moment a badly burnt man stumbled into his business shouting ‘I’m on fire’ and ‘screaming like a dying bull’ – as police question two men
- Man ran down inner-city Brisbane street screaming, ‘I’m on fire, I’m fire!’
- A café owner said the 24-year-old was bleeding and frothing from the mouth
- Police established two crime scenes in West End’s main strip, Boundary Street
- Two men are now assisting police with inquiries into the incident
Pedestrians and horrified café patrons have been left shaken after seeing a man suffering agonising burns and a bleeding wound to his neck stumble around an inner-city street, screaming in pain.
A 24-year-old man who had allegedly had an unidentified substance believed to be hot water thrown on him at a nearby hostel was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital after the incident.
He is in a serious but stable condition after paramedics treated him at the scene in the inner-city suburb of West End.
He was seen in the street shortly after 7am screaming, ‘I’m on fire, I’m on fire.’
The City Limits Cafe and West End Lodge Accommodation at the corner of Boundary and Mollison streets, West End Brisbane, where the man was found in agony with burns to his chest and neck
Police established two crime scenes in the area. A man in his 30s and another aged in his 40s are currently assisting with inquiries into the incident
City Limits café owner Lawrence Nassar told the Courier-Mail that he had seen the man running and stumbling opposite his establishment, before patrons watched him head across the street.
Mr Nassar brought him cold water and told him he would call an ambulance.
‘He had a big gash in the back of his neck and blood was pouring everywhere and he was frothing from his mouth,’ Mr Nassar said.
‘He ran over and people here were so scared, they were horrified and the little kids were screaming.
‘He was in so much agony.
‘It was horrific, really horrific. I’ve seen a lot but never something like that.’
Mr Nassar said the man had sounded like a ‘dying bull’.
Police set up crime scenes at the alleged location of the incident at the intersection of Boundary and Wilson streets, and the other at West End Lodge Accommodation above the café.
Police said a man in his 30s and another aged in his 40s were assisting with inquiries into the incident.