Police in Australia have released footage of the moment a man was forced to remove his pants after accidentally setting himself on fire during a suspected arson attack.
The man, along with another, was allegedly trying to set fire to a fast food outlet in Melbourne on 25 December.
The Victoria police said emergency services were called to tackle a fire at a row of shops off Doncaster Road in Doncaster East at about 2.40am on Christmas Day.
Investigators believe two people drove to the premises in a white Toyota Tarago and approached the outlet with a container of flammable liquid.
“The liquid was poured over the front of the business and the offenders attempted to set it alight,” police said. “The liquid caught fire, as did the clothing of one of the offenders who stripped off their burning garments as they ran back to the Tarago along with the other offender who had collected the jerry can.”
CCTV footage released by police shows two masked men in hoodies arriving at the scene and one of them moving closer to the fast food outlet. Within seconds, a huge ball of fire erupts from the store and one of the men is seen running back with his lower half on fire.
Another clip from a street surveillance camera shows the man scrambling to remove his pants and running away with the flaming garment seemingly stuck around his left foot.
The motive behind the suspected arson attack and the condition of the man who caught fire remain unknown.
“The Tarago, which is believed to have been driven by a third offender, was last seen headed east on Doncaster Road,” police said.
The suspects are on the run and police have requested assistance from the public to find them.
