Bulgarian woman sets herself on fire in central Sofia Published duration 3 November 2014

image copyright Reuters image caption Bystanders got to the woman and put out the flames but she suffered severe burns

A woman has set herself ablaze near the presidency building in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and is now in hospital being treated for severe burns.

It is not yet clear why the 38-year-old woman doused herself in a flammable liquid and torched herself.

She was engulfed in flames before bystanders managed to put out the blaze and load her into an ambulance.

There were six similar self-immolations in Bulgaria last year, amid anger over chronic poverty and alleged corruption.

Last month Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won a snap parliamentary election but failed to get an overall majority. The party led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is trying to form a new ruling coalition with smaller parties.

Last year Bulgaria, the poorest country in the EU, was rocked by weeks of protests over low living standards, a banking crisis and allegations of high-level government corruption.