A security guard at the Ministry of Electricity and Energy suffered burns to his face, chest and hands while trying to stop a man from setting himself on fire after the ministry refused to give him a job.
Atef Fekry Abdel Moneim, the security guard, has been hospitalized at Helmiya Military Hospital, while the man who attempted the self-immolation, Tarek Mahamadein Sallam, was arrested and is being interrogated.
Workers at the ministry said Mahamadein came to the building Tuesday morning hiding a gasoline bottle under his clothes. He was also holding an employment request, they said, adding that he then suddenly set himself on fire outside an office.
A number of Egyptians previously set themselves on fire to protest social conditions at the beginning of 2011, just days before the January 2011 uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. The self-immolation attempts were believed to be mimicking that of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire after being abused by a police officer.
Bouazizi died from his injuries a couple of weeks later, and his death sparked a popular uprising in Tunisia that eventually spread throughout the region.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
