By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A Ohio man was in critical condition on Monday after he walked into busy traffic outside of Cleveland and then lit himself on fire in front of three young children, police said.

Hugo Ramos, 28, pulled his vehicle over in Pittsfield Township, 35 miles (56 km) west of Cleveland, walked directly into traffic and was struck by a truck around 11 a.m. local time, according to Craig Cvetan, a spokesman for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Ramos then walked back to his vehicle, retrieved what patrol officers believe to be a container of gasoline, drank from the container, poured the rest on his body and lit himself on fire, Cvetan said.

Three children aged 1, 4 and 7 were in the vehicle at the time of the incident but were not injured, he said.

A motorist put out the flames and Ramos was airlifted to Cleveland Metro Hospital where he was in critical condition, Cvetan said.

(Editing by Brendan O'Brien and Eric Walsh)