Teen Syrian in critical condition after self-immolation attempt in Beirut
A person caped in the Tunisian flag walks past a statue representing the cart of Mohamed Al Bouazizi, the fruit vendor whose self-immolation sparked the revolution that ousted a dictator and ignited the Arab Spring, on Dec. 17, 2011 in Sidi Bouzid. Thousands of Tunisians rallied in celebration of the first anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled their long-standing dictator and unleashed the Arab Spring revolutions.
Nineteen-year-old Syrian Ahmad Mahmoud Youssef is in critical condition after attempting to self-immolate in economic protest in Beirut, sources told Lebanon's Daily Star on Monday.
The National News Agency said Youssef tried to set himself on fire on Sunday in the capital's Corniche al-Mazraa and is now being hospitalized for third-degree burns, according to NOW Lebanon.
Youssef was said to be indebted and in severe financial hardship, reported the Star.
It was not immediately clear whether or not the young Syrian was one of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have poured into neighboring countries like Lebanon in order to escape rising violence in their homeland.
Also unknown is any connection between Youssef and the 2011 self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor, also done out of economic frustration.
The Tunisian's self-immolation ignited a wave of protest throughout the Arab world.