Witness describes panic as man died after becoming engulfed in flames on street

Humberside Police are not treating the death in Hull as suspicious

A police car remains at the scene where a man died after he burst into flames (Screengrab/Hull Daily Mail)

A father has told of his “sheer panic” when he rushed to help a man who died in minutes after he was engulfed in flames on a road outside his home.

Daniel Lingwood, 32, ran out of his house when he saw through a window what he thought was his van on fire, but was left shocked when he found it was the victim who was ablaze.

The council worker said he and another man rolled him over on the ground in a bid to quash the flames on Thanet Road in Hull, Yorkshire.

He said he had first-aid skills and performed CPR on the victim until emergency services arrived to attend to him, but he died at the scene despite the efforts to save him.

Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious and were not looking for anyone in connection with the incident.

Mr Lingwood told how he spotted the man in flames from his porch window.

"I felt sheer panic and just rushed over to help,” he told the Hull Daily Mail. "Some other people were already there, but it just felt like the whole street was in a panic.

"There were some women going round to get buckets of water to chuck over him, but I have done first aid before and I knew that would be bad for his skin, so me and another bloke tried to roll him on the ground to put the fire out.

"Then we started doing compressions on him until the ambulance arrived."

He added how he had been left traumatized by the experience.

"I just keep seeing his face," he said. "I couldn't go to work today. I keep thinking about what happened."

Humberside Police confirmed the death of the man, who has not been named, and said it was not being treated as suspicious.

Detective Superintendent Dave Wood said officers from the force had attended the scene.

"The Ambulance and the Fire Service were already in attendance,” he said. “The man had suffered serious burns in the isolated incident. He was given emergency treatment but he sadly died.

“No-one else was injured, and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this.”

A file is being prepared for the coroner.

Any witnesses to the tragedy are asked to call 101 and quote log 480 of 27/12/17.

The death in Hull came just weeks after a man died after he burst into flames while he was walking down a road in north London.

John Nolan, 70, died in the tragedy despite the efforts of witnesses who tried to put out the blaze and save him.

Investigators with the London Fire Brigade were unable to find anything at the scene that would have sparked a fire.

An inquest is expected in the coming weeks to determine the cause of death of the former construction worker originally from Co Mayo, Ireland.