Japanese man self-immolates, leaps to death at Silom mall

A Japanese man set himself on fire and jumped to death from the Thaniya Plaza building in Bang Rak district of Bangkok late Wednesday.

At about 11pm police from Bang Rak station found the charred body of the man on the ground-floor hall that functioned as a beer hall. They found a driver’s licence and social security card of Shinji Watanabe, 37, of Yokohama, Japan on the body.

According to the Bangkok Post, Surveillance-camera footage showed the man stood in a fourth-floor corridor for a while and then he covered himself in oil, set himself ablaze and plunged to the ground floor. Security guards put out the flames with fire extinguishers but could not save him.

Police found a plastic bottle containing oil on the fourth-floor. They also found several packs of medicine on the body. Police contacted the Japanese embassy for more information.