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A man was taken to hospital after witnesses reported seeing him on fire on playing fields in Cardiff.

Emergency services were called to Marl Playing Fields on Ferry Road in Grangetown at around 2.30pm on Saturday.

Two adult football teams were playing at the time of the incident and tried to help the man.

Dean Kelly, 29, from Ely, was playing for Grange Catholics Old Boys in their fixture against Llanedeyrn, when he said five minutes before half time they saw a man emerge from nearby bushes on fire.

He said: "We were playing as we do most Saturdays and we saw a bloke come out of the bushes fully engulfed in flames.

"He had his hands in the air. We abandoned the game and took our shirts off, and tried to put the flames out.

"We also grabbed the water bottles and tried to put the fire out. Some of my teammates went knocking on the doors of houses to get water.

"It was horrible to be honest - not nice at all. There were dog walkers about and kids and they had to be turned away because it was very disturbing.

"Our team and our opponents just acted how anyone would. None of us were paramedics or anything, but we just tried to help him out."

Rob Gee-Wing said his 13-year-old son Sebastian, who plays for Butetown AFC, had been playing at the fields on Saturday afternoon when the incident happened.

He said: "There was a football match going on at the time and the adults all ran over and tried their best to put him out."

He said his son and a friend then returned home.

"They are both a bit shocked", Mr Gee-Wing said. "I wouldn't want to see anything like that when I was his age."

Residents described how the footballers knocked on nearby doors asking for water.

A Channel View resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I spoke to dog walkers who we know, and they said they saw a man lying down on the grass. They asked him if he was OK.

"Then they said footballers who were playing by the fields just saw a gulf of fire. They ran over, and knocked on people's houses asking for water to put it out."

Another resident added: "The football players came around the front and asked for water.

"They were taking their shirts off to try and put him out. Hopefully he's ok."

South Wales Police said the man was taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea but were unable to provide any further details about his condition.