Tunisian vendor dies after setting himself on fire in desperation over poor job prospects

Published January 13, 2015

A Tunisian street vendor has died of severe, full-body burns after setting himself ablaze in what his family described as an act of desperation over trouble finding a steady job.

The self-immolation in 2010 of another Tunisian vendor frustrated with corruption and unemployment sparked protests that spread nationwide and led to the ouster of Tunisia's authoritarian president. That unleashed protests around the Arab world.

The director of the Tunis region's burn center, Imed Touibi, said that vendor Adel Khedhri died Wednesday morning. Touibi said the 27-year-old man, from a poor town in northwestern Tunisia struggling to find a steady job to support his mother and siblings, had burns on nearly 90 percent of his body.

Khedhri set himself on fire Tuesday on the main thoroughfare of the capital, Tunis.

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