Tunisia man sets himself alight outside interior ministry

A man in Tunisia set himself alight overnight Saturday to Sunday, over a decade after a similar incident triggered a wave of protests and uprisings across the Arab world.

Local media said the unnamed man aged in his thirties attempted suicide near an interior ministry building in the capital Tunis overnight for unknown reasons, receiving second-degree burns and being treated in hospital.

The incident came after Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself alight in a well-known episode in late 2010 after authorities took his cart. He later died.

Bouazizi's act led to a revolution that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and prompted other uprisings and demonstrations across the region.

Tunisia is currently in dire economic straits and has suffered from political turmoil since President Kais Saied began a power grab in July 2021 – two years ago on Tuesday.

Critics have described the move as a "coup" and suggested it marked a walking back of the gains made during Tunisia's revolution a decade ago.