Moroccan Man Dies After Being Set on Fire in Spanish City of Algeciras

The investigation was opened on May 2 after the construction site security guard found the young man and alerted the police. When they arrived on the scene, the agents found that the victim had been burned alive. He was rushed to the hospital but died two days later.

According to the initial observations of the judicial police and the forensic police, the young man had no documents on him to identify him, nor a mobile phone or any personal effects, which made it difficult to identify him.

But the investigators eventually identified him. He was a 22-year-old Moroccan who had recently arrived in the city of Algeciras from Madrid. After inspecting the abandoned house he had been squatting in since his arrival using drones, the investigators found his backpack, a burned T-shirt and other clothes, and three cans of solvent.

The analysis of the recovered objects allowed the investigators to conclude that the solvents had been purchased by the victim, ruling out the hypothesis of homicide. The investigators are leaning towards an accidental death or suicide. The results of the investigation have been made available to the competent judicial authority.