Woman sitting on German park bench ‘spontaneously combusts’

The victim, who is in her 40s and originally from Mauritius, was sitting on a park bench in Flensburg, northern Germany, when she went up in flames.

A horrified passerby tried to put out the blaze by beating it with his jacket, but she had already suffered severe burns all over her body.

She was rushed to a local hospital before being flown out to a specialist burns unit in Lübeck where she is fighting for her life, according to the Flensburger Tageblatt.

According to eyewitnesses, the unnamed woman ‘did not say anything’ or make a sound as the flames engulfed her.
‘The victim has lived in Flensburg for a long time and has family here,’ prosecutor Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt said.
And Otto Gosch, the Flensburg public prosecutor, added that they ‘have no evidence that points to a third party fault’.
However, as well as spontaneous human combustion, police are investigating the possibility of a suicide attempt. 

How can someone 'spontaneously combust'?

Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the term used when the body catches on fire without an external source of ignition.
Around 200 cases have been documented throughout history and victims are mostly elderly, ill, or under the influence of alcohol so they have difficulty escaping or putting the fire out.
Scientists believe the human body can become an ‘inside out candle’ – where their clothes are the wick, and their body fat is the wax or flammable material that keeps the fire going.
Forensic investigators have found a link between SHC and alcohol consumption, as well as the amount of ‘melted fats’ (like butter) that someone eats.

Metro UK