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It is said that a 49-year-old man tried to commit suicide after hearing a noise in Hitsing this morning. There was an explosion.
When an explosion occurred in his apartment, the man survived thanks to the joint action of the Vienna Alarm Department (WEGA) and the professional fire department. The emergency services forced open the apartment, extinguished the man's burning lower body and handed over the injured man to a professional rescue service.
Assault on the stairs
According to police spokesman Mattias Schuster, the large-scale operation began around 10:30 p.m. The 50-year-old woman, who was already known to authorities due to mental health issues, had reported disturbing the peace to a neighbor. He confronted her on the stairs of an apartment building on Auhofstrasse.
Help in case of crisis
Information with support offers for people with suicidal thoughts and their relatives and support organizations in Austria: Suicide Prevention Austria
Psychiatric Emergency Helpline 01/313 30 provides 24-hour counseling and support in case of crisis. The Austria-wide telephone consultation service can be accessed free of charge at 142 at any time.
Things escalated, Schuster says, hitting the 49-year-old woman with a wooden object and dousing her with a liquid similar to gasoline. He then tried to light it, but failed. A passerby, possibly a jogger, intervened and the 50-year-old managed to escape.
A man locked himself in the apartment
The 49-year-old locked himself in his apartment. Emergency services were alerted and attended. “We asked him several times to voluntarily leave the apartment, but to no avail,” Shuster said. According to Christian Feiler, a spokesman for the Professional Fire Department, not only did the apartment smell strongly of gasoline, but the concentration of vapors was already so high that they could be measured.
According to the police, the man cut himself on the head and neck with a knife and set himself on fire by dousing himself with petrol-like liquid. He was arrested after a Taser was used.
The officers were unhurt
Initial emergency medical measures were taken by the Vienna Professional Rescue Service. The man and woman were then taken to the hospital. The Vienna Fire Department extinguished the fire at the apartment complex. No officers were injured in the incident. Further investigations are ongoing.
