Woman sets herself ablaze and walks quietly through shopping mall

"She was completely on fire ... She wasn't screaming or saying a word. She wasn't running. She was just walking."

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As horrified shoppers watched, a woman doused her body with a fire accelerant, set herself ablaze and then silently walked through a crowded Miami-Dade mall and out the door.

"It was a big fireball,'' said John Torres, a shopper who grabbed a fire extinguisher. "It was movie-style stuntman stuff.''

The 43-year-old woman suffered third-degree burns over three-quarters of her body, and was in critical condition late Thursday, authorities said. When rescue workers arrived, she was conscious and talking to them, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Arnold Piedrahita said.

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The woman had been inside the Savage Boutique. Witnesses said she left two dozen red and white roses on the counter. Then, she doused herself with a flammable liquid -- authorities could not say what it was -- and set herself on fire.

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The flames shot several feet into the air and encircled the woman, witnesses said. At least a few shoppers, thinking the fire was a hoax, snapped photos of the woman and the efforts to help her.

Jose Morales, 24, was shopping for earrings for his wife at a kiosk in the mall. When he heard the shoppers' screams, he turned around and saw the woman engulfed in bright yellow flames.

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Moments later, an unidentified person tried to extinguish the fire by pushing the woman to the ground.

When the woman didn't fall, Santiago Castro, who manages a travel agency in the mall, grabbed a fire extinguisher, pointed it at the woman and pressed the handle. It discharged, but it didn't douse the flames.

"She looked like a human torch, on fire from head to toe," Castro said.

The woman then opened an exit door and walked out to the parking lot, witnesses said. Torres, the other man who tried to help, followed with a fire extinguisher and was eventually able to put out the fire.

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After the flames were out, the woman continued to walk around in a trance-like state. Her hair and clothing had been burned off. Morales said the woman's skin was charred and bubbling.

"She wasn't making eye contact with anyone,'' he said. "It was like she was in her own world.''

... I hope she survives and gets the medical and psychiatric help that she needs.

This sounds eerie as all hell.

Quote :

Moments later, an unidentified person tried to extinguish the fire by pushing the woman to the ground.

Body Check is used by hockey players and as such is probably ice type, which explains why it was ineffective in putting out the fire.

I bet she was doing a LOT of drugs at the time in any case.

Holy shit that's weird. My first thought was definitely drugs, then I thought 'what if she's one of those people who suffers from that condition where she doesn't feel pain, and maybe she's utterly depressed about it? Then I thought drugs again, if she was wandering around in a trance-like state after the fire had gone out.

Weeeeiiiiiiird. I'd really like to know what was up with her, and I hope she recovers and gets all the help she needs.

Honestly, it would probably be better if she gave up the ghost in the hospital. If not, the physical recovery is going to be a world of pain, which certainly won't help her mental health.

Obviously, a new strain of GUILT is responsible for this.

Have to agree with the people who think this is weird as all hell. Hopefully they'll be able to find out just what was going through her head.

This sounds like it came out of some horror or drama movie.

Weird.

Or a very black comedy.

I'd really like to know what the significance of the two dozen red and white roses she left on the counter of that boutique was. A love affair that ended badly? The voices in her head telling her to do it?

Also, third degree burns over three-quarters of her body? NOT a good omen for recovery.

Was she really on drugs at the time, or had she just worked herself into some trance-state?

Either way, damn that must have been one scary sight.

Good lord, I'd hate to have been there and actually seen this. That's just creepy.

I found this article that talks a bit more about her history

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Her husband says she has a history of mental issues and her daughter worked at the store where she left the flowers at.

Another casualty in the gender wars.
Whether you survive or not, your pain will not be in vain.
Just think of the funding we can squeeze from the nutsack of the legislature with her as a poster child.

Waffles wrote:

Another casualty in the gender wars.
Whether you survive or not, your pain will not be in vain.
Just think of the funding we can squeeze from the nutsack of the legislature with her as a poster child.

Odd, we in the man camp were thinking of doing the same.
"Women! Taking gender roles too seriously will cause you to Spontaneously-combust. Brought to you by the league of men who just want to drink their pint in peace"

Somath Cegem on gener wars wrote:

Odd, we in the man camp were thinking of doing the same.
"Women! Taking gender roles too seriously will cause you to Spontaneously-combust. Brought to you by the league of men who just want to drink their pint in peace"

I hope you don't mind me qouting you out of context. :lolinsane:

Somath Cegem wrote:

Waffles wrote:

Another casualty in the gender wars.
Whether you survive or not, your pain will not be in vain.
Just think of the funding we can squeeze from the nutsack of the legislature with her as a poster child.

Odd, we in the man camp were thinking of doing the same.
"Women! Taking gender roles too seriously will cause you to Spontaneously-combust. Brought to you by the league of men who just want to drink their pint in peace"

Shut the fuck up, McGee.

Cyberwulf wrote:

Somath Cegem wrote:

Waffles wrote:

Another casualty in the gender wars.
Whether you survive or not, your pain will not be in vain.
Just think of the funding we can squeeze from the nutsack of the legislature with her as a poster child.

Odd, we in the man camp were thinking of doing the same.
"Women! Taking gender roles too seriously will cause you to Spontaneously-combust. Brought to you by the league of men who just want to drink their pint in peace"

Shut the fuck up, McGee.

NO U STFU!

Quote Pyramid GO!

Probably the creepiest thing about this will be that Hollywood will beseech this poor woman's husband begging for the movie rights.

Nah, that isn't as creepy as somoene who would fap to this story.