November 21, 2011
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean police said Monday they are still trying to identify a man who set himself ablaze and jumped to his death from a casino in the capital Seoul.
The man, believed to be Asian, was found Friday night lying on the ground with his body ablaze outside the casino at the Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel, a police detective told AFP.
Police said he was believed to have jumped from the sixth floor, where a can of inflammable paint thinner and a disposable lighter was found. They said they have been unable so far to identify the badly charred corpse.
The casino accepts only foreign passport-holders. South Korea allows its own citizens to use only one of the country's 17 casinos.
The establishment known as the Seven Luck is frequented by foreign tourists and migrant workers from Southeast Asia and China, Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.
"There are many cases in which foreign migrant workers addicted to gambling squander several months' pay overnight," an unidentified police officer told the paper.
