The Office of the Public Prosecutor, OPP, said on Wednesday that the hypothesis of suicide was being largely favoured in the case of a 32-year-old Belgian male who died after setting himself on fire just after 9 p.m. on Tuesday and jumping off a bridge close to the Brussels Law Courts. It said the man probably had deep psychological problems.
The OPP investigation shows thus far that the man acted alone. None of the witnesses said the victim had said or shouted anything.
Surveillance video showed him arriving alone on the bridge, taking a plastic bottle from his backpack then dousing himself with the contents. His body was found on the ground, near the entrance to the elevator. The man died on the spot from his injuries.
The Brussels-Ixelles police arrived quickly on the scene and set up security perimeters above and below the elevator. The federal police laboratory and the forensic doctor were called to the scene.
The OPP reopened the area around midnight.
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The Brussels Times
